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HSD Seniors Named Outstanding Student Leaders by St. Louis County
HSD Seniors Named Outstanding Student Leaders by St. Louis County
The Outstanding Student Leadership Program, coordinated by St. Louis County Government, selected three seniors from the Hazelwood School District to participate in its 2009 program.
Adam Dean of Hazelwood Central, Ahlam Issa of Hazelwood East, and Paul Langdon of Hazelwood West high schools spent a day at Washington University in St. Louis at a leadership conference supported by the program. At the close of the conference, students were presented with certificates for their achievement in the St. Louis County Council Chamber.
The annual leadership program “provides training and recognition to youth in Saint Louis County, assisting youth with development of the skills they need to be effective leaders and citizens.” Each year, one senior from each county high school is nominated by a principal to participate. The selection criteria includes leadership ability, community service, citizenship and academic achievement.
Dean thought the conference was worthwhile and felt honored to represent Hazelwood Central High. “It felt great, actually. I met a lot of good leaders from different schools,” he said, commenting that the “circumstances that brought us together” not only included leadership, but “being active at school in clubs, sports, band and other organizations.”
Dean plays baseball and soccer, plays the saxophone in band, serves as the historian for Student Council, and holds membership in the Spanish National Honor Society, National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars. He is interested in attending college at Purdue University, Rutgers University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Issa keeps busy at Hazelwood East High with golf, Student Council, Peer Leaders, DECA, theatre and National Honor Society.
She appreciated the experience of the leadership conference and enjoyed being posed with challenging questions. “I liked the ‘Imagination’ portion of the conference. We were stepping outside of the box and looking at things from a different perspective,” said Issa.
“I enjoyed meeting different types of people. Everyone had different ideas and it was a very diverse group,” she said.
As she looks ahead to college, Issa is interested in Purdue University, Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of Southern California.
Langdon is a member of the A+ Advisory Committee, band and is involved in school plays at Hazelwood West High.
He was humble about his feelings of attending the conference. “I felt kind of out of place. I think other students have done more than me,” he said. “But it felt good to represent my school. It was pretty groovy.”
Langdon wants to attend St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley to take advantage of the benefits he earned through the Missouri A+ Schools Program. Afterward, he would like to attend the University of Missouri-St. Louis or the University of Missouri-Columbia.
