High Life A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Young Mover and Shaker : Senior Wins $10,000 National Leadership Scholarship

Clark Moore, a senior at University High School, has been named the winner of the $10,000 Shell Century Three Leaders national scholarship award after the group’s recent national conference in Williamsburg, Va.

Moore, one of 102 student finalists at the gathering, was selected on the basis of his performance in activities throughout the conference, where critical issues facing the United States were debated.

“My interest in politics really began at the state level,” said Moore, who is president of the California Assn. of Student Councils. “Actually, I was disappointed to see the way much of government was run.”

Although still waiting to hear from three of the colleges to which he has applied, Moore is leaning toward Stanford University, where he said he would major in political science.

“I’m not interested in running for an elected position,” Moore said of his political future. “I would prefer working within an organization I believe in to help bring about needed changes.”

The convention’s students were divided into groups and assigned specific issues for which they discussed solutions. Moore later presented those recommendations to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.

To qualify for the conference, Moore, 17, submitted his resume as well as an essay on high school dropouts. His resume, while dominated by his work in student government, at the local and state level, also includes performances in University High drama productions, tours with the All-American Boys Chorus, and his involvement with the high school’s chapter of Amnesty International.

Although his busy schedule has caused him to miss a lot of class time, Moore has maintained a 4.3 grade average.

“My teachers have been very supportive for the most part,” he said. “I think that’s because what I do has so much to do with education.”

The following is an excerpt from Moore’s essay in which he outlines strategies for dealing with the nation’s dropout problem:

High schools must first provide adequate personal, academic and vocational counseling to students.

Feeling a budget crunch, many schools have cut back on counseling programs. However, students are not able to learn in the classroom if they have serious emotional problems or do not see the purpose of receiving an education.

Schools which cannot afford to hire more counselors should establish peer counseling programs.

Second, “at risk” students must be placed in a learning environment where they can receive personal attention.

Especially in urban schools, teachers have classes so large that they may not even know their students’ names, much less offer special assistance.

The best teachers in each school should be assigned to take on the challenge of these special classes, and they should be allowed to use fresh, unorthodox approaches to teaching. Possible methods include team teaching, peer tutoring, cooperative learning and flexible class scheduling.

As studies have shown class size to be a direct predictor of retention rates, small class size is vital.

Third, the entire community must be involved in education, especially businesses and parents.

School-business partnerships are now common, but such programs have often had a limited impact.

If businesses are truly concerned about stemming the tide of dropouts, they must take a more direct role in working with students. Several businesses have begun successful tutoring programs and even intern programs with schools.

The business community must also make current technology available to schools so that students can learn about the equipment commonly used in offices, laboratories and factories.

Although many parents of “at risk” youth are not interested in school matters, schools must make every effort to provide parents with consistent and useful information written in their primary languages.

Another approach for parent involvement is to invite them to join parent groups and assist in school activities.

If we want our country to remain the strongest economy in the world, we all must do our part to improve the educational system.

As a future leader in my community, I have made the commitment to contribute time, energy and resources to promote a more educated society.