Caroline Conner, daughter of Lee and Emily Conner of Burlington and a junior at Williams High School, is one of two NC students recently chosen through a statewide competition to represent NC in the US Senate Youth program to be held March 7-14. Caroline is only the second student from Alamance County to win since the program was created in 1963. The other was Wally Kernodle, also from Williams High School, in 1968.
Conner currently serves as the Junior Class President and serves as a member of the ABSS Superintendent’s Student Advisory Group. She founded and currently administers the Community Medical Closet at Front Street United Methodist Church which freecycles gently used medical equipment for those in need within her community. She is a member of the N.C. Civics Coalition’s Youth Advisory Committee and is pursuing certification as a community Spanish interpreter.
She will join a delegation of 104 outstanding high school students –two from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity – for an intensive week-long study of the federal government and the people who lead it, meeting with Senators, the President, a Supreme Court Justice, and other high-level officials. Each delegate will also receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship with encouragement to continue coursework in government, history and public affairs.
The statewide selection process was run by the NC Department of Public Instruction and focused on leadership, academics, and public service. It required Caroline to submit an initial application including two letters of recommendation, forms completed by her principal and guidance counselor (including an academic transcript), a video presentation of her resume and motivations for pursuing the program, several short essays, and a longer essay that answered a multi-part question about the U.S. Constitution. After being selected as one of the six finalists, she took a public affairs exam and interviewed with the selection committee.
For more information about the program visit www.ussenateyouth.org.
