Community leader concerned with children's needs, hopes

Thelma Price sat at a table with a piece of a jigsaw puzzle pinned to her black winter coat.

She explained that it is "a world piece," which she and other members of a children's advocacy organization gave out during a rally last summer.

The "world pieces" carry the inscription: "you are unique and the world is not complete without you."

"Our message is that children are the world," Price explained. "The pieces look the same, but they are different. If you leave that little piece out, nothing can take the place of that in the world. You need it to make the world complete."

Price, through her work with area children, has become an important part of a movement to emphasize children's rights and bring about change in area schools.

"Kids are honest and they don't hate," Price said. "You can't be old around kids."

For the past several years, Price has worked with several area youth organizations including the Diversity and Respect committees of the State College Area High School and the local chapter of Stand for Children. She has also worked with the State College Borough Council to build a skateboarding park in the area.

Price was born in Detroit but has moved around all her life to places including Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, New York, Texas and, most recently, Pennsylvania.

As a result of living all over the country, Price said she brings lots of experiences to her work.

She worked in several civil rights organizations in the South during her "progressive years."

Price said she got involved with civil rights organizations to express her feelings about equality.

"Humans are humans and people are people and I can't accept less than that," Price said.

Of all of her activities, she said the high school's Respect Committee is her favorite because of interaction with children.

The Respect Committee was created by students about four years ago to address racial tensions occurring in the school, Price said. Students asked Price to serve on the committee, in addition to faculty and administrators of the school.

"It is a proactive group that discusses racial problems as they come up," Price said. "It grew out of what we wanted our school to be and what they as students wanted their school to be."

Continuing her work with children, Price has participated in Stand for Children, a national organization devoted to helping children. Price and others have started a local chapter of Stand for Children in State College two years ago.

Through the work of the local organization of Stand for Children, Price said she has helped promote the building of a skate park in State College. Price said the Stand for Children group and Parks and Recreation are looking for areas around the high school to build the park.

Price has no intentions of stopping her work to help others. The next projects for Price could include spending time in a soup kitchen in New Mexico or taking course work in the seminary.