`Oprah' To Profile Story Of Everett Girl -- `It's Like A Miracle To Have Liberty,' Says Mother Of Youth Who Inspires Her Family, Other Teens

EVERETT - Liberty Franklin has a few minutes to spare before her interview at the Everett Boys & Girls Club, and she's not about to waste a moment. So she challenges her niece and younger sister to a game of bumper pool, grabs a cue and promptly runs the table.

Today's a big day for Franklin. The 17-year-old will meet with reporters and be videotaped for a "day-in-the-life" segment for the "Oprah" show. Better still, tomorrow she and her mother will fly to Chicago to tape the episode, which is scheduled to air Wednesday.

Appearing on the show will be winners of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Youth of the Year program from each of the 50 states, with Franklin representing Washington. Her story is one of two to be profiled on "Oprah," and on a show renowned for its tales of inspiration, Franklin's is a natural.

Liberty Franklin has lived her entire life in Everett's public housing. Her mother, a recovering alcoholic, is on government assistance and receives no child support. Franklin has never met her father. Her older sister is in jail, a crack addict doing time for theft and forgery, and an older brother is in a work-release program.

Despite this, Franklin has created promise in her life. A member of the National Honor Society, she's ranked seventh in her junior class of 242 at Everett High School, with a nearly-flawless 3.9 grade-point average. She devotes much of her time to the local Boys & Girls Club, where she runs a discussion group called Teen Talk. Until recently she worked three jobs to save money for college and support her family.

"She's just got an unbelievable drive not to fall into the same situation as her mom and as her family," says Ghvette Bergstrom, director of Teen Nights at the Everett Boys & Girls Club. "The effect she's had on her mom and on her younger sister is unbelievable. Her mom is basically sober because of her."

Franklin's mother, Mary JoAnn Antoine, recalls the Mother's Day three years ago when her daughter offered her a deal. Franklin told her mom she would stop getting into mischief at school if she would stop drinking and smoking pot.

"Ever since that day she's gone her direction, and I've gone mine," her mother says.

"She's really inspired me," Antoine adds. "It's like a miracle to have Liberty."

In addition to school, work, volunteering and playing on the school softball team, Liberty also teaches Sunday school and sings in her church choir.

Franklin's life changed when her family moved to a Hemlock Street row house just a few blocks from the Everett Boys & Girls Club six years ago. She was in the sixth grade and started hanging out at the center.

"I think back then it was iffy as to whether she was going to be a positive force in our club or what, and she chose a positive way," Bergstrom says.

The guidance and advice she got at the club helped Franklin stay on a straight path even when others strayed. Now she offers advice and support for others at the club.

"We talk about peer pressure, teen sex, drugs and alcohol, gangs, home and family life," she says.

Franklin hopes to attend the University of Washington after graduating and to become an orthodontist for the underprivileged.

Following her appearance on "Oprah," Franklin will have at least $25,000 in scholarship money for college through the Youth of the Year program, according to Boys & Girls Club officials. She's also scheduled to fly to Los Angeles next month for the regional finals. The five regional winners will travel to Washington, D.C., this fall to meet President Clinton at the White House, where a national winner will be named.

Now that she's being recognized for what she's made of herself, Franklin's thoughts harken back to the father she's never known. Although she doesn't plan to search for her father, Franklin says she would like to meet him one day, to "let him know what he missed out on."

"I just want him to know what I've become," she says.

Adam Zoll's phone message number is 425-745-7808. His e-mail address is: AZoll@seatimes.com