In the lead.

Michelle Loke, 13, knows how to lead the way in the fight against lead poisoning. After hearing news reports about hazardous lead in gumball-machine trinkets, Michelle pulled overtime in the science lab to determine which ones were toxic. "Many children have gotten lead poisoning from toys and jewelry like those I tested," Michelle explains. She didn't want that to happen to her little brother, who's a gumball-toy junkie. So she bought more than 100 trinkets from machines in 28 different stores and developed a procedure to test for lead. Michelle discovered many of the toys and costume jewelry were, in fact, packing the harmful substance. She then launched a down-with-lead campaign. She shot out letters to corporate headquarters of stores that carried the trinkets and to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, newspapers, and state and federal legislators. After the word was spread about lead, most of the trinkets were removed from the stores and many legislators promised to prohibit future use of the toxin in toys. Michelle won a Prudential Spirit of Community Award for putting her head into lead prevention.