“Coming from a military family, I want to continue the tradition. I chose the Marines because of the challenges that come with it, and for the leadership skills that will help me grow as an individual. The main reason I want to become a Marine is to make my father proud and to follow in his footsteps. … Continue reading →

“A leader is someone who provides purpose, motivation and direction. He is not afraid to make a decision and does what he believes is the right thing. He faces the consequences if his decision is wrong. He influences others through motivation to accomplish tasks in a timely manner. Most importantly, he understands and knows his subordinates, and … Continue reading →

“It’s important to study classics and classical languages because our society owes so much to Ancient Greece and Rome. Learning Latin or Ancient Greek helps a student understand English grammar and literature better. But more importantly, it’s fun. Latin is fun. Studying classics is not only enriching, but enjoyable.” Age: 16 Continue reading →

“What I like most about (writing) is that it is an easy way to express my feeling and thoughts. Writing has helped me a lot in life. I know this might seem crazy for a child my age, but I’d rather write a letter than text.” Age:15 … Continue reading →

“The Civil Air Patrol gives me the opportunity to exercise and advance my leadership abilities and skills. This program promotes aerospace education and gives me the ability to work toward my goal of becoming a pilot. Civil Air Patrol also gives me an understanding of what a career in the military would be like.” Continue reading →

“Without the Louisiana Youth Seminar, I simply would not be the leader I am today. LYS allows you to grow in your public speaking skills, communication skills and work ethic while having fun and making life-long friends at the same time. I strongly encourage anyone who desires to be a leader in any way to go for … Continue reading →

“To me, imagining peace means trying to shape this world into a place future generations are going to want to live in — a place of serenity and an end to war, a paradise filled with love for one another. As people of this beautiful world, we deserve a place we feel safe, a place where everyone … Continue reading →

“On my official weekend all the players and coaches made us all feel welcomed and like we were already a part of the (football) team before I even committed. I also talked to a couple of the professors on campus and coach (Dawson) Odums is really high on academics. … Since I’m from South Louisiana, I can … Continue reading →

“To me the most interesting aspect about agriculture is that although there is a lot of preparation, planning, and hard work to make a crop, harvesting the product that you produce and sell is the ultimate reward. You truly feel like you have accomplished a lot when the day is over. It’s exciting and fun, because I … Continue reading →

“I enjoy helping people, and if I can make someone else’s day better by helping them, then my day will be better as well!” Age: 18 School: Central Private, senior Parents: Raymond and Laurie Knapp Continue reading →

“JROTC (the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) has taught me dedication, honesty, integrity, respect, honor, but most of all, how to be a leader and role model to my peers. It has shown me the importance of giving back to my community. … My Army instructors, 1st Sgt. Kevin Hawkins and 1st Sgt. Kevin Sledge, have helped … Continue reading →

“What I enjoy most about the Internet and technology are the endless possibilities. They can be sources of entertainment for those who are bored as well as a go-to source of information for those writing research papers.” Age: 17 School: Baton Rouge Magnet High School senior Continue reading →

“To me, the inauguration lets us know the president’s plan for our country and to know what changes our president would like to make … I was very excited (to attend). I’ve never gotten the chance to do something like that. It made me really proud of my country!” Continue reading →

“Gospel music is more than music to me. It’s my way of teaching and preaching the good news that saves, while having lots of fun doing it as well. I love music so I use it to show God that I would give him what I love the most and use it for his glory.” … Continue reading →

“Although the academics are the main focus, you also get the chance to express yourself and show your talents with the multiple visual and performing arts that are offered. Being in a magnet school, you are also given the privilege of college trips, educational but entertaining field trips and field trips to places in and out of the … Continue reading →

“I was taught very early that if you want something, you have to go out there and get it! This comes with hard work and dedication. Yes, there are going to be some tough times that come in your life, but the difference between successful people and non-successful ones is that a successful person never gave up no … Continue reading →

“Welding has a lot of safety rules and procedures to follow that we were required to learn. … Once we made it to the shop, it was harder than we thought. The thought of getting burned always rested in the back of our minds. It took a couple of tries, but after that we had the hang of … Continue reading →

“I like to help encourage the children to read even if they have trouble with a word. They might seem shy at first, but eventually they open up to let us help. … After a while they grow more attached to us as well as we get to them, and by April I really hate to … Continue reading →

“The Jobs for America’s Graduates Program, otherwise called JAG, … has stressed three very important skills necessary to be successful: life survival strategies, communicating effectively and making good decisions. … I am very comfortable asking my JAG teacher questions about life and/or career choices that I might need to know more about so I can have a decent … Continue reading →

“I think it is important to protect not just aquatic wildlife, but the environment and the animals who live in it all together. The environment is important, and we must protect it in order to maintain sustainability and conserve habitats for future generations.” Age: 18. Continue reading →

The musical “Grease” is coming to Runnels Theater for six performances Feb. 22 through March 3. Show times are 7 p.m. Feb. 22, 23, March 1 and 2 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 24 and March 3. The March 1 performance will include a “Grease” Sing-A-Long and a ’50s costume contest. The show features senior Quint … Continue reading →

“To me school spirit is very important. It should be top priority to stand behind your school and support all the teams. Cheering for our football team this year was one of the highlights of my senior year in high school. I love my CHS family and the CHS Cheerleaders.” Continue reading →

Instead of accepting gifts for their birthdays this year, LSU Laboratory School sixth-graders Christian Sexton, Nathan Gilly and Spencer Thomas organized a large dance party where they collected gift cards for a needy family identified through Catholic Charities in Baton Rouge. For the boys’ second annual charity dance party for their classmates in November, students were … Continue reading →

The Talented Music String Orchestra and Choir, with student members from Baton Rouge Magnet, McKinley and Woodlawn high schools, will perform in concert at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Louisiana State Museum, 660 N. 4th St. in Baton Rouge. The program will include such classical selections as “Gloria” by Antonio Vivaldi and “Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring” … Continue reading →

Meghan Comeaux, 9, of Tepetate, grew a “humongous cabbage” and was named Louisiana state winner for the National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program, the Alabama-based nationwide plant wholesaler announced. Comeaux, now a fourth-grader at Iota Elementary, is the daughter of Steve and Rebekah Comeaux. This year more than 1.5 million third-graders in 48 states, including 14,888 … Continue reading →

“It’s funny that I’ve lived here all my life and never paid attention to this cutting and loading of sugarcane, and it happens a couple of times a year (in the fields that line La. 311). Now that I had to think about it for a writing assignment, I realized that without agriculture, specifically sugarcane farming, … Continue reading →

Application season is under way at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Opportunities for students include half-day and after-school arts classes or full-day arts and academics instruction. For the half-day and after-school programs, accepted high school students attend NOCCA either at 1:15 p.m. or 4 p.m. during the school year while receiving elective credit … Continue reading →

“My parents encourage and challenge me to focus on my mental, physical and spiritual life so that I can be the best person I can possibly be — the person I’m called to be. … I love that with most of my volunteering, I’m doing projects with my family which is fun and brings us closer together.” Continue reading →

Interested in attending one of the U.S. service academies? Brandon Woolf, a University High School alum and a sophomore cadet at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., will be hosting question and answer sessions during Thanksgiving week at two East Baton Rouge Parish Library locations. The schedule: 10 … Continue reading →

“Daily, one can read in the local newspaper or watch on the local news (stories of) a countless number of kids between the ages of 16 and 25 who make decisions that end their freedom or their lives. I believe this is because they do not have the guidance or faith to pursue the righteousness … Continue reading →

The Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center for the Arts recently introduced the members of its 2012-13 Student Advisory Board. This board, comprising 10th- and 11th-grade students selected from schools in the surrounding area, participates in programming for the theater, volunteers for educational projects with the theater and mentors younger students in various theater arts projects. Continue reading →

“My favorite things to do would have to be swimming and listening to music — swimming, because it’s a stress reliever for me. I love to listen to music, because it clears my mind of negative thoughts, so I can focus more on the road ahead of me, rather than the road behind me.” Continue reading →

During Thanksgiving week, the Foundation for Historical Louisiana will offer Louisiana Lagniappe, an educational camp for children interested in learning about Louisiana’s history and heritage. The camp will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 19 through 21 at the Old Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge with optional extended hours from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 … Continue reading →

"To me, I think it's great to have a member of my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) running for president. It gets many people interested in learning about our religion and our Christian beliefs." Age: 16 School: Central Private, 11th grade Parents: Stacey and Ross Goynes FAVORITES: Book: none TV show: "As of now, ‘The Walking Dead'" Movies: Dark Knight trilogy (by Christopher … Continue reading →

The Legacy Project, a nonprofit focused on building closer connections across generations, suggests that children can travel through time and change lives by interviewing a grandparent or other older adult about that adult's life experiences. Enter the Legacy Project's national Listen to a Life Essay Contest for a chance to win a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer. The contest runs each year in … Continue reading →

“I think the most important thing about studying is not memorizing rules or facts, but rather understanding WHY those rules are true. Once you understand how things work, you don’t have to remember as much; you can just figure it out as you go along.” … Continue reading →

Want a different place to trick or treat? Try the West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 North Jefferson Ave. in Port Allen. From 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27, trick or treating, games and crafts will be offered on the grounds of the museum. Then at 7:45 p.m., the costumed children will line up to … Continue reading →

“The biggest lesson we all learned was that you do not have to have a lot to be happy in life… And, of course, that it is much better to give than to receive.” Age: 17 School: St. … Continue reading →

Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge, 323 E. Airport Drive, is offering the Wyman Teen Outreach Program to help students ages 12 to 18 develop healthy behaviors, life skills and a sense of purpose. Participants are divided into clubs based on these age groupings: 12-13, 14, 15-16 and 17-18. Club members meet for an hour once a … Continue reading →

“This is my fourth year of early morning seminary and to get up at 5 a.m. Monday through Friday, week after week, is more of a blessing than a burden. Yes, it may be early, but you are sacrificing that little bit of sleep for a gospel-filled lesson every day that uplifts you and helps the … Continue reading →

The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, 2800 Chartres St. in New Orleans, will serve as host for the Arts College Fair to help high school students make decisions on their next steps of education and post-secondary opportunities in the arts and academics. The free fair is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday and is expected to include … Continue reading →

“John Quincy Adams said that ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.’ This quote summarizes what a great leader should be. Being a leader is not about having power or controlling others, but inspiring them to be the best they can be. This allows … Continue reading →

The National Merit Scholarship Corp., an independent nonprofit scholarship organization based in Evanston, Ill., has released its list of 2013 National Achievement semifinalists. More than 1,600 black high school seniors from across the nation are on the list. Students were selected based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test. Listed below are … Continue reading →

“Being able to turn on the TV and see my face (on the ‘The Allen Brotherz Reality Show’) brings a mix of emotions. It seems like almost every day someone says, ‘Hey, didn’t I see you on that show last night?’ And it makes me the happiest person in the world to know that people actually … Continue reading →

Hoping to introduce girls to how “cool” science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers can be, Girl Scouts Louisiana East, in partnership with the St. George Observatory, will be holding STEM Day from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 6 at Terrebonne Parish Donner Community Center in Donner. Girls from kindergarten through 12th grade will … Continue reading →