Poem wins Berkeley girl a trip to Winter Olympics - Oakland Tribune

BERKELEY -- Jalena Keane-Lee was in the middle of a rehearsalwith Oakland's Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company when RonaldMcDonald showed up.

The Ronald McDonald. Not an actor in her teen stage group playingRonald McDonald, but an authentic clown dispatched by the hamburgergiant.

The clown had some news for Jalena that had nothing to do withfast food. A poem that the 14-year-old Berkeley High School freshmanhad written for a national contest stood out, according to a panelof Olympic athletes, so Jalena would be heading to Vancouver,British Columbia, to serve as a teen news correspondent at the 2010Winter Olympics.

It was kind of one of those Publishers Clearing House-type ofmoments, but without the cash payout.

'I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what is this clown doing here?' 'Jalena said. 'Instead of a big check, they had a big sign.'

A few months before, she had entered her poem in the U.S.McDonald's Champion Kids contest, writing about the values ofexcellence, friendship and respect and how they all tie into hereveryday life.

'I wrote a poem about my three ethnicities, the three Olympicmedals and my three values,' said Jalena, who is of Chinese,Japanese and Irish ancestry.

She submitted the poem, and life went on.

'Honestly, I kind of forgot about it. I'm busy with school andI'm in a dance company, so I was just caught up in school andeveryday life,' she said.

Then Ronald McDonald showed up.

Jalena left with her mom Wednesday on a four-day, all-expenses-paid trip. She will write stories for the Berkeley High Schoolnewspaper, The Jacket, and offer a teen perspective on Olympichappenings for the Bay Area's NBC affiliate, contest officials said.She will also interview athletes, attend special events, write ablog and help produce videos.

This will be her first trip to Vancouver, said her mother, MikoLee.

But entering the poem certainly wasn't her first plunge in theworld of contests.

'She's a little bit of a contest maven and has been since she wasa little kid,' Lee said.

When Jalena was about 8, she took home an honorable mention inthe Reading Rainbow book illustration contest through publictelevision station KQED. Last year, she earned second place for herpoetry in a local 'Growing Up Asian in America' contest.

Jalena is also an actress who starred in her first professionaltheater production at age 5. She is currently working on 'Asylum,' ashow with the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, which willopen in March. At Berkeley High, she was in 'Vagina Monologues,' andis missing a week of the show to travel to the Olympics.

On Feb. 28, she will play the lead in an original production of'Tales of the Nian,' which tells the history and origin of ChineseLion dance, a form she has studied since she was 5, her mother said.

While the stage is a familiar place, the snowy cold is not.

'She has been in the snow a few times, but winter sports arecompletely new,' her mother said. 'She has always enjoyed watchingthe Olympics and is excited to attend. Her grandmother is an iceskating aficionado and has stirred this interest in Jalena as well.'

The contest entries were judged by a panel of Olympic athletesincluding Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson, Alpinesnowboarder Graham Watanabe, freestyle mogul skier Patrick Deneen,and speed skaters Jennifer Rodriguez and J.R. Celski, contestofficials said.

'After reading Jalena's contest entry, I was very impressed byher creative approach to express what the Olympic values meant toher,' Johnson said in a statement. 'I was also interested to readabout Jalena's heritage and what that means to her, and look forwardto meeting her during the Olympic Winter Games.'