A third-grader at Howell’s Southwest Elementary School found an ally of a lifetime after writing to the president of the United States about her climate change concerns.
Mira Vantaram has always been concerned about climate change and the environment. Last year, when she was in second grade, Mira listed climate change as a foe during a school activity. She donates extra money to the World Wildlife Federation. She aspires to work with animals and fight for the planet.
“Whenever I hear about climate change I get burned up,” Mira said. “I want to do something.”
But what?
The idea to write a letter came about when Mira and her mother, Joanna Vantaram — who teaches at Southwest Elementary — were getting their hair cut. Mira was sharing with the hairdresser how concerned she was about the planet surviving climate change.
That was when the hairdresser — a former student of her mom’s — told her to do something.
“Write a letter,” the hairdresser suggested.
That’s exactly what Mira did, to the one person she knew could help; she wrote a letter to the president of the United States about her concerns for the planet. And then she waited for a reply.
That was before Thanksgiving, and as one holiday gave way to another, and as 2022 became 2023, Mira waited still. Her parents warned her that she might not get a response, explaining about the volume of letters and messages the president receives on a daily basis and how not all could be answered, but Mira had faith.
Then, waiting for her when she got home from a Girl Scouts meeting last week, was an envelope from the White House, and inside was the letter from President Joe Biden.
Mira said she was so excited that she “screamed and shrieked.”
The letter — which acknowledged her climate change concerns and encouraged her to keep working for the planet — was even more special because it mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris, who shared a first name with Mira’s great-grandmother in India.
Acknowledging her concerns, the president encouraged her to keep working for the planet.
“It is important that you continue to use your voice to speak out on this issue,” Biden wrote. “Because of students like you, I am more confident than ever in our country’s ability to overcome any challenge we face. Always remember — when you make your voice heard, adults listen.”
“He empowered me,” Mira said, and she intends to keep making her voice heard. She’s also interested in starting a Roots & Shoots Club in the area. The club, which is for students, is a project of the institute founded by Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and anthropologist who works on conservation and animal welfare issues.
Mira — who loves playing Roblox, swimming, riding horses, and singing in the Livingston County Choir, and whose favorite subjects are social studies and science — is looking forward to a trip this summer to India, where her father, Vikas Vantaram, was born. Mira was with her father when he took the Oath of Allegiance and became an American citizen in Detroit in October.
She aspires to become a zookeeper and a nature activist, and though she’s just 8, Mira has a clear view of what needs to be done to save the planet. She encourages people to do whatever they can, large or small, to help save the planet.
“Compost. Recycle,” Mira said. “Pick up trash when you see it. We have to change or we’re done for.
“There’s only one planet.”
