PORTLAND, Maine —

A group of Maine high schoolers had the Zoom of a lifetime recently.

Teens who are a part of the Portland-based Young Writers and Leaders (YWL) program got to talk with a best-selling author, President Barack Obama.

Back in December President Obama sent a copy of his new memoir, A Promised Land, to the 26 Maine high schoolers who make up the YWL program, and later followed up with a letter, asking they could spare some time from their busy lives and join him on a Zoom call to talk about their lives as writers and leaders.

“The whole thing was like so unreal. But it actually happened, and we have, like, we have video proof that it happened,” said Noor Sager, a 15-year-old sophomore at Gorham High School.

During Obama’s presidency, the White House actually named the YWL program as one of the top 12 arts and humanities programs for youth in the nation.

“We started by asking him questions,” said Alia Usanase, a 19-year-old junior at Deering High School.

In a video of the interaction, Usanase asked President Obama if he always likes everything he writes.

“No! Sometimes I write, most of the time I write something, I say ‘this is stupid,'” Obama told her.

For an hour, the former president gave them advice on writing, life and how to be leaders.

“You need to like change your community first in order to change the world,” said Youmna Mohamed, a 17-year-old senior at Portland High School, expressing one of her key takeaways from the conversation.

“My whole life, I hadn’t imagined myself talking to a president. President Obama in front of me, like I am literally talking to him,” Usanase said, still in disbelief.

“Honestly at the end of that call I couldn't help but feel like, a really lasting impression that, like, maybe like the really impossible stuff that everyone thinks about isn’t that impossible,” Sager said.

To learn more about Young Writers and Leaders, a program put on by The Telling Room, head to tellingroom.org.

When WCPO news anchor Tanya O’Rourke interviewed author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance in 2017, he was fresh off the decision not to run for Senate the year before. People had wanted him to, he said. He didn't. His family, investment firm and nonprofit kept him too busy.

He'd found room in his schedule by Thursday night, when Vance returned to his birthplace of Middletown to announce a bid for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Rob Portman. It'll be a competitive race — other Republicans hoping to score the same job include longtime Ohio GOP chair Jane Timken and former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel, one of Twitter's most vocal Trump fans.

O’Rourke sat down with Vance again to find out what changed his mind. Why now?

WCPO Staff

“I recognize that if you actually want to get anything done, you got to go in there and blow some things up,” he said. “I also think I have a desire to actually get things done. You know, I’m a political outsider. I’ve never run for political office before.”

He was initially critical of former President Donald Trump in 2016 but has since changed his mind about that, too.

“I think he delivered on his promises to make the country a better place,” Vance said. “So, I think I saw this guy, he was an outsider. I didn’t really believe he was serious. And then I saw the guy in action. And I thought he was a successful president. That’s why I supported him enthusiastically in 2020. I didn't hide from that fact, either that I was critical of them in 2016, or that I was a big supporter in 2020. So I changed because he did a good job.”

The two met a few months ago to discuss the race.

“He’s not gonna endorse anybody in this race early on,” Vance said of his meeting with Trump. “I think he wants to let the candidates fight it out.”

Vance is running on a platform of bringing jobs to Ohio and taking on big tech, even though he’s received $10 million from a super PAC formed by billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Pieper, Robert

Vance also said he supports a universal voter ID.

“First of all, we do want, I think, universal voter ID because it's just common sense election integrity," he said. "A majority of people, Democratic, Republican, all racial groups support common sense voter ID, so I think we should have it."

"And absolutely, if people can't afford to get an ID, you don't want that to prevent them from being able to vote. You want to make it easier for people to vote, but you want to make it easier for them to vote in a fair and safe way. You want basically legal votes to count, illegal votes not to count, and making voter ID the law, that way it actually I think facilitates and supports that goal."

In addition to Timken and Mandel, Vance will face two Cleveland businessmen, Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno, in next year's GOP primary.

CHICAGO, Ill. — At a time when legislation is being written that affects people who are transgender or nonbinary, one who doesn’t identify exclusively with any gender, young influencers are sharing their own stories.

A series of books written by teenagers aims to help foster understanding and clarity about what it means to come out as a young person and thrive.

Gia Parr, 17, came out as transgender three years.

“I've always known I was a girl since I was two,” she said. “I just didn't really have the words for it.”

Now a high school senior, the teen has found those words and put them to paper as one of the co-authors of "A Kids Book About Being Transgender."

“The word ‘transgender,’ I feel like it can be such an adult term and it can sound so scary,” said Parr. “And to put it in words meant for kids and to be able to educate them is so important.”

The books are being released as part of global storytelling campaign led by 18 young people like Parr from around the country.

“Most people in our country tell us they've never met anyone who identifies as transgender or nonbinary,” said Jen Grosshandler, the co-founder of the GenderCool Project.

The nonprofit advocacy group is collaborating on the campaign with the publishing company A Kids Book About.

“It's going to help people really see this incredible growing community for the beauty and positivity of who they are,” said Grosshandler.

The youth-led GenderCool movement was inspired by Grosshandler’s own family. Her youngest child, Chazzie, proudly identifies as transgender.

“I find it so important as just a 14-year-old for someone to accept me for the way I am and who I am,” said Chazzie Grosshandler.

The series of books share personal stories about being transgender – but also nonbinary. The third book in the series tackles inclusivity.

“Our books, they fundamentally work as conversation starters, not conversations enders,” said Jelani Memory, the founder of A Kids Book About.

“These young people, they want to be seen as individuals, as people, as fine and OK the way they are, that they are happy, that they're healthy, that they're whole. And that's really true about all of our books,” said Memory.

For teens like Chazzie, she hopes the positivity of this storytelling series will be eye-opening for people of all ages.

“It just, it means a lot to me,” said Grosshandler. “And I know there's so many people in the world who aren't accepted, and I just hope that they know that they are loved for who they are.”

Parr says her dream is to return to her elementary school to read her book and support others.

“It would have been really important for a student like me sitting wondering ‘why am I like this or who am I? Why do I feel so quote unquote, different from my peers?’ To know that they are in good hands,” she said.

All three books are already available for pre-order and expected to hit bookshelves in June – just in time for pride month.