Roxie Beebe-Center, a 10th grader here at C.H.S., has been published in a book called No Planet B. Her article, titled How Climate Change Is Impacting Animals in the Canadian Arctic, was selected to be featured. This book was published as a collaboration between Teen Vogue and Haymarket books, and is a compilation of short pieces on the urgency of climate change. All of these articles are sourced from youth activists, a particularly touching example of the passion of our generation.

Roxie is an especially achieved and virtuous student; along with the new feat of recognition, she balances many other passions. She is an exemplary student, a large part of C.H.S. ‘s theater department, she often takes roles of leadership in writing and directing, played varsity basketball this year, and rides horses, just to name a few. Roxie has led quite the adventurous and eccentric life, to which she attributes her gift for writing: “My family has always valued travel and I am so, so lucky to have visited so many different places and met so many interesting individuals. Seeing different lifestyles, climates, and cultures is so important in accurately describing, explaining, and understanding anything.” 

Although Roxie’s article was selected for this book very recently, she actually wrote it at the age of twelve. This is quite the testament to her precocious nature. It was published on Teen Vogue’s website on December 1st of 2017. Roxie talks about her parents’ support of her writing, as she explains how she was initially published by Teen Vogue: “My mother is a professional journalist and my father has done some journalism as well, so when I began to express interest in being a correspondent, they were incredibly encouraging. I had written articles for several local newspapers, and had always loved Teen Vogue. I came up with an idea for an article, and my mother helped me find contact information and draft a pitch. They rejected my first idea, but were interested in my second, and that was the article published on their website, and eventually included in No Planet B.”

As mentioned in the previous quote, this was not Roxie’s first time being published, and it wasn’t her last. “I have written for several Virginia newspapers since I was published in Teen Vogue, including InFauquier, Rappahannock News, and several poetry anthologies. I’ve been involved in writing and poetry competitions locally and nationally. I also worked as a proof-reader at a Virginia newspaper.” This is a long list of achievements, especially for someone so young. 

We are all navigating a field of self doubt in this moment of uncertainty, and Roxie, with all her many achievements, was not exempt from this feeling. She explained “I actually remember the day I got the email, last spring, a month or two into the pandemic. I wasn’t doing well and felt unaccomplished, unmotivated, and un-everything really. When I was told my work would be included in a book, I was ecstatic; it had always been a dream of mine, and it virtually fell out of thin air. I am so, so thankful that I was given this opportunity.” Roxie talks about this experience with a heart full of gratitude, and acknowledgement that opportunities these days are sparse. Roxie Beebe-Center is certainly among C.H.S. ‘s vast pool of creative and inspired leaders of tomorrow, we can definitely expect more avant garde and meaningful work from her in the future.