The Man Who Makes Big Things Happen
By Kellie Upton
Oldham County High School

Sixteen-year-old Aristófanes Cedeño stepped into the bathroom during a break at his job in Panama, and there in the bathroom was United States President Jimmy Carter. Aris reached out to shake the President’s hand and felt a gun shoved in his back as he said, “You must be the President.”

Little did he know, but this chance encounter with the President of the United States was just a warm-up, preparing Aris for a future of encounters with government officials. A teacher and scholar, Aris found his life affected by politicians and government workers since joining the Governor’s Scholars Program in 1992. And that has only increased since he became executive director of the organization in 2006.

The GSP’s goal, to keep the “best and the brightest” of the Commonwealth’s students living and working in the Commonwealth, requires an investment from the state. So much of Aris’s job is to convince politicians that GSP is important and a good investment for the state.

This year, Aris wanted to offer a unique opportunity to his scholars, one that had been knocked around for years in discussions with faculty and staff. It was a partnership that would bring together the best aspects of two public agencies dedicated to change – GSP and Habitat for Humanity. The partnership would marry the key concept of Habitat, homes for the homeless, with the public service mission of GSP.

For Aris, the time was right. The upcoming 30th anniversary of Kentucky’s Governor’s Scholars Program called for something special, and this was it.

    “We wanted to celebrate the 30th anniversary with something bigger than the campus,” said Aris. It also fit with his passion to serve the homeless and nurture the next generation.

Aris Cedeños holds Hawa Muse at the dedication of the Muse's home.

    With this project, Aris had three goals in mind: to involve the whole campus in a single community service project, to make scholars and others aware of dire situations such as homelessness, and to help scholars understand the concept of people and place and how they affect their surroundings.
   
The Habitat organization is currently the ninth largest homebuilder in the United States, having built more than 500,000 homes and having provided shelter for approximately 2.5 million people worldwide. When Aris presented his idea to local Habitat officials, they were skeptical about having 360 teenagers constructing a house in five weeks. On average, a Habitat build involves about 30 volunteers and takes approximately three months to complete. And then there was the age of the scholars: all of them were minors under the age of 18, and many of them were only 16.

Aris fought to make this happen.

    “I just knew how much you were going to embrace the project,” he told Habitat officials.

Perhaps it is no accident that Aris fought so hard to cultivate this relationship with Habitat, an organization that was heralded by Jimmy Carter in 1984 as a meaningful way to promote peace and human rights. Aris is an inspirational and caring person to all who get to know him. His love for community is shown through his attention to each individual scholar. His intelligence and kind heart enable this program to succeed and flourish.

“Aris is like my second father,” said Bryan Rich, GSP’s assistant director, Bellarmine Campus, who has been working alongside Aris for 15 years. “He is very people oriented and cares for the program and everyone in it.”

For Aris, the clear focus of this project was the family that would occupy the Habitat house, particularly the children. Watching his actions and expressions when communicating with the kids offers a peek into his soul. He finds he can most relate to Hawa, the youngest daughter in the family, because he never had sisters. He admires the attitudes and energy of little kids, and he respects their take on life.

    “You will not enjoy life if you are not like them at some point,” he said.