Local Teen Leader Tours Nation’s Capital

As her classmates finish school today, Aurea Martin will continue to visit the nation’s capital.

The 16-year-old Brand Boulevard resident completed her junior year at Cleveland High School in Reseda early last week to attend the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., this week.

“We’ve visited all the monuments so far,” Aurea said Wednesday from the East Coast.

The conference is a development program for high school students who have demonstrated leadership potential and scholastic merit.

This year’s theme is “The Leaders of Tomorrow Meeting the Leaders of Today,” with members of Congress, the Clinton administration, journalists and diplomats scheduled to interact with 350 students from across the nation.

Aurea will participate in activities that include “If I Were President,” in which an international crisis is simulated and students must respond, and “Model Congress,” in which students debate issues and vote on proposed legislation.

She also will tour the White House, meet with members of the California congressional delegation and visit a foreign embassy, according to the conference itinerary.

Following the conference, which ends June 24, she will attend Presidential Classroom, a similar program that runs from June 25 to July 5.

“Things I’m doing here, I’d never do [at home],” said Aurea, who intends to look into attending Georgetown University after graduation.

“Whenever you go outside the city, you represent the city,” said San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II. “She makes us proud at home.”