Marc Berson, Sports Editor
Marc Berson, a senior at Freedom High School in Tampa, Florida, is the Sports Editor of the Revolution Paper. He has been a part of the newspaper since his sophomore year and was promoted to editor at the beginning of his junior year.
Berson has shown a passion for service and is a board member of the generationOn National Youth Advisory Council, serving as an ambassador to promote civic engagement among students in the United States http://www.generationon.org/global/who-are-we/national-youth-advisory-council. Berson is also a U.S. representative for the Global Citizen Corp http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/, an international network of young leaders who take informed actions to build secure, productive and just communities around the world. Locally, Berson serves as the President of Café Freedom, a student organization dedicated to mobilizing youth to address critical community-wide issues. Berson has led literacy programs for young children in impoverished neighborhoods, collected books and resources for schools in developing nations, and worked with preschoolers in the Caribbean and Ghana to support their learning. He has organized high school volunteers in the implementation of a literacy festival,promoting the message of "I feel the need to read" to second graders from low income schools and providing each child with a book that they may continue to enjoy at home. This original program has expanded to other area high schools. Books have been distributed to over 1000 children in Title I elementary schools in the Tampa Bay area. Upon discovering that Florida has the highest accidental drowning death rate in the nation for one to four year olds, Berson, co-developed an annual April Pools Day festival, engaging teens in outreach activities to foster water safety and drowning prevention in the community. This event attracts a number of notable Swimming Stars, including several Olympic champions.
Berson has been a competitive swimmer for 15 years and has been named MVP of the Freedom high school team for the last three years. He has won seven district championship titles and holds five school records. He also swims for Tampa YMCA Swimming, his club team, and was named MVP this past year and was one of a select group of swimmers to qualify for YMCA Nationals.
