Beyond the class room: EBONY'S 2008 top high school seniors show how community service helps them learn about themselves

Ebony, June, 2008 by Joy T. Bennett

From working to decrease high infant-mortality rates to caring for the dying in hospice, from mentoring younger students to discovering inexpensive ways to purify water, EBONY magazine's 2008 top seniors are going outside the classroom to change their world.

For example, Jeremy Feaster of Charlotte, N.C., chose to aid Third World countries by helping research inexpensive methods to purify water. He was appalled to learn that billions of people around the world don't have access to clean water and that thousands die daily from contaminated water. "My research focused on aiding the people of Third World nations through developing an inexpensive and simple container that would use titanium dioxide to potentially cleanse water of biological pathogens," he says. He has also been offered more than $1 million in scholarships.

Feaster and several other students also are involved with national groups such as Habitat for Humanity and the March of Dimes. Jonathan Jordan Lewis of Jackson, Miss., decided to fight his state's high rate of infant mortality and birth defects by becoming a youth leadership volunteer for the March of Dimes. He lobbies state lawmakers to change the laws to provide better access to prenatal care for Mississippi mothers.

Then there's Alexis' Danee' Crosby of Cleveland, who is a hands-on teen volunteer for a hospice program as well as a volunteer at the City Club of Cleveland, where she helps to organize community-oriented seminars.

Vivian Mbawuike of Brighton, Mass., decided to become a force for peace and organize a basketball tournament as a safe recreational outlet for area teens because she's tired of gang violence and "too many young lives lost."

These and other talented students featured as EBONY's 2008 Top High School Seniors have excelled in their classwork as well. All have taken Advanced Placement classes and earned grade point averages above the standard 4.0 scale, and most already have a wealth of college scholarships promised. In addition, they all have plans for ongoing public and private social service. But one of the things that makes these students stand out is what one impressed mentor calls "uncommon common sense."

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JEREMY feaster

Age: 17; City: Charlotte, N.C.

School: Harding University HS; GPA 5.23

JEREMY plans to study chemical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and attend either law or medical school. He says he has been offered more than $1.3 million in scholarships. As an intern at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Jeremy won several awards for a community service project to create an inexpensive method of water purification for developing nations. His project, "Pursuing Low-Cost Water Purification Using a Titanium Dioxide Photocatalyst," was awarded the Stockholm Junior Water Prize by the Water Environment Federation as well as prizes from the U.S. Army, the American Meteorological Society and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association. Jeremy also volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army and an annual walk for the hungry. "It is important to leave my community better than I found it," he says. "My community service allows me to express my gratitude and to benefit other people through my God-given abilities."

ALEXIS danee crosby

Age: 17

City: Cleveland

School: Glenville HS

GPA 4.3

ALEXIS plans to study engineering at Case Western Reserve University and pursue a career as a physician and research scientist. She volunteers with the Hospice of the Western Reserve's teen volunteer program, where she interacts with terminally ill patients and their families. Alexis says working with the patients, both young and old, made her see the great need for health care professionals in hospice care. She also volunteers with the City Club of Cleveland Youth Council, for which she researches new topics and organizes forums that provide an outlet for new ideas for the community. "I feel that it is my responsibility to give back to the community and to try to make it a better place," Alexis says. "I think that I get more out of it than the people I help. While serving my community I have learned so much about the world and myself. I truly think that I am better person because of it."

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Vivian

mbawuike

Age: 17

City: Brighton, Mass.

School: Boston Community

Leadership Academy

GPA 4.5

VIVIAN hasn't decided which university she will attend, but she plans to become a physician specializing in microbiology. A community activist, she turned the pain of a family member's murder into a plan for peace by founding with peers the "Audacity to Dream" basketball tournament to give community youth a positive and safe recreational outlet. "We do not have the luxury to leave each other behind," she says. "I have come to the realization that activism is always going to be my life's work, because in order for me to see the humanity in myself, I must be able to see my Brothers' and Sisters' humanity. Barack Obama, I think, articulates it best when he says, 'We are who we have been waiting for!'"