‘She is not shy to give her opinion’
Sit in on virtually any nonprofit board, and you’ll see your share of seasoned supporters with years — sometimes decades — of experience. But when Sophie Sonntag arrives for a meeting, the average age in the room drops dramatically.
Sophie’s 14 years old, and she’s on the board for Christmas in the Park. Gotta think that definitely puts her on Santa’s “nice” list.
“It is an amazing experience, and I’m very grateful for it,” said Sophie, an eighthgrader at Monroe Middle School in San Jose. “I feel a lot of responsibility because I really want to make sure I’m not just speaking my opinion but my peers’ opinion.”
That’s the type of thoughtfulness Christmas in the Park Executive Director Jason Minsky was hoping for when he approached his board more than a year ago about adding a young person to their ranks. It seems like a no-brainer for an event that appeals to so many families, but there was a very practical reason for the move, too. The long-running holiday display in downtown San Jose has a steady stream of younger kids who visit with their parents every year as well as older teens and young adults who come with their friends or on dates, Minsky S. said.
“But there’s this little gap of that 10- to 16-year-old that really isn’t getting a lot out of our event,” Minsky said. “I felt it was good for us to have the point of view of a kid.”
Finding the right young person wasn’t too difficult. Sophie’s mother, Dawnel Sonntag, is the principal at Monroe Middle School and Minsky has known her since his daughter, Tabitha, went there. He met Sophie when she succeeded his daughter as the school mascot. He thought she would be a natural choice and asked Sonntag if Sophie would be interested. Does Rudolph have a red nose?
“It’s a big community event, and I think it’s a good event for San Jose,” she said. It has been a Sonntag family tradition to visit Christmas in the Park, but Sophie noticed that
some things would change every year. “I was interested in how that process worked.”
Sophie’s dream job would be to join the ranks of Disney’s Imagineers — the people who design and build the attractions at the parks worldwide — and getting a real behind-thescenes look at how Christmas in the Park operates has been eye opening. She was able to see concept art for two new displays added last year go from the design stage to delighting families in the park.
“It was so beautiful to see that. We have a fantastic group of people who put this together,” she said, proving she definitely has the skill of a board member skill Monroe Middle School student Sophie Sonntag, center, takes part in a board meeting for Christmas in the Park, surrounded by, from left, Jake Caputo, John Herschbach, Joe Noonan and Jennifer Maio.
in spreading around the credit.
Sophie joined the board last April as an honorary member, which means she doesn’t vote but she also doesn’t have to provide the level of financial support that other board members
do. Otherwise, she’s like any other board member, including going to an eight-hour board retreat.
“I knew she was very outgoing, but I didn’t know how she would be in a group of 20 strangers,” Minsky said. “She’s more vocal than half the board of directors that I have. She is not shy to give her opinion.”
Sophie says she also feels her fellow board members respect her opinion. “I have the ability to speak when I think things are important,” she said. “I get to share my ideas and perspectives about what’s going on.”
Dawnel Sonntag isn’t surprised her daughter has taken to her new role so well. She’s always been a doer, whether she was participating in Girl Scouts, student government or musical theater. She recently competed in the World Scholar’s Cup on a team from Monroe that was pitted against students from all over Northern California. Her team won top junior team and she won top junior scholar.
“She’s a very independent person and she’s already an old soul, so she’s got that going for her,” she said.
While Sophie knows she will one day get too old for her role as the youth representative on the board, she plans to stay involved. And she won’t be the last young board member.
“We’ve even talked about having varied representation by youth, maybe even somebody younger,” Minsky said. “There are so many things I think we can have students doing at Christmas in the Park.”