Students Get a Glimpse of U.S. Leaders

As the nation’s top officials spent the fall debating the issue of proper presidential behavior, a select group of 350 young people--including 11 top students from the San Fernando Valley--arrived in Washington for a week of leadership training at the annual National Young Leaders Conference.

Sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, the conference opened each of its eight fall sessions with a visit to Capitol Hill, where the students were welcomed at the House of Representatives. The young leaders attended brainstorming sessions with congressional staffers and journalists, and visited foreign embassies.

The students, selected by school administrators based on their leadership potential and scholastic achievements, participated in a role-playing session in which the “president” and “cabinet members” had to help resolve an international crisis. They also debated the merits of juvenile-justice legislation in their Model Congress.

The following Valley students attended the 1998 national conference: Kirsten Shourt and Theresa Abenne from Louisville High School in Woodland Hills; Rebecca Jannol of Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City; Jessica Doyle of Canyon High School in Canyon Country; Albert Kim of Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale; Urvish Patel, Johnny Tsao, Charlene Oh and Jaisha Wray of Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta; Ashley Mills of Cleveland Humanities Magnet High School in Reseda and Sheba Sheikholeslam from Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood.

“It was a life-changing experience,” said Campbell Hall junior Sheba, 16. “The hands-on aspect of tackling government issues made me grow more in that one week than in all three years of high school so far.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Teaching Tolerance: Viviane Medina-Netzel’s seventh-graders at Valley Alternative Magnet School in Van Nuys recently completed a Holocaust study, which included an all-class reading of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

The students also visited the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, and sat riveted as Marie Kaufman, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, recounted her touching childhood story of hiding out with a Christian family in France to avoid the death camps. Finally, actor Allan Rich conducted a schoolwide town hall at which the students discussed racism in America.

KUDOS

Cyber Smarts: Thousands of middle-, junior high- and high-school students representing all 50 states and 12 countries recently participated in the 31st Knowledge Master Open, an academic competition held on school computers. Newhall’s William S. Hart High School team of 38 students placed fourth in the state, and in the top 10% internationally in the contest that allows students to compete in a large academic event without the expense of traveling.

On a Roll: The Van Nuys High School Marching Band captured the first-place prize for band, general effect and music at the recent Santa Barbara High School Tournament of Bands. The band was among 13 competing from Santa Barbara, Ventura, Kern and Los Angeles counties. The win came on the heels of another victory at the Royal High School Marching Band sweepstakes a week earlier.

Honored: David and Andrea Sherman, longtime supporters of Valley Torah High School in North Hollywood, were honored at a banquet recently for their strong commitment to improving education at the Valley’s only Jewish high school.