Anyone questioning the quality of today’s youth should read the applications for the P. Buckley Moss Society — Anne and Matt Harbison Award. This year's candidates from 21 states were AWESOME, creating a huge challenge even to narrow the group to the top ten — much less to one winner — when so many were worthy.

In addition to all of them dealing with a learning difference, the applicants had several other qualities in common. They demonstrated wonderful and varied strategies to cope with their learning problems. They possessed a maturity which was impressive, especially regarding their knowledge of themselves. They were active and involved in a wide range of interests. Most of them displayed clear-cut, specific goals for their futures. Most also exhibited a sincere desire to make a difference in this world by making it a better place for others.

Jean Elizabeth Rogers, a 2002 graduate of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, is this year’s Harbison winner. She maintained a grade point average of 3.56 at this highly competitive school which was recognized two years ago as a National Magnet School of Excellence.

Jean’s learning disability is in both written expression and math. In addition, she has Attention Deficit Disorder and a cognitive disorder. She finds it difficult to focus, organize, and explain her thoughts when she is writing. She has problems with short-term memory, problems with conceptual reasoning, and slow reasoning and calculation abilities in math.

Her persistence and dedication are evident in the excellent strategies she has developed. She utilizes a tape recorder, a computer, and a calculator regularly. She took tests verbally or with extended time, frequently giving up lunch periods. She requested after school tutoring with her teachers and secured a part-time job to pay a math tutor twice weekly.

Jean participated in Davidson College's Love of Learning Program, an innovative pre-college program designed to increase the number of students who succeed in higher education. The program requires 10 hours per year of community service. The program director noted that Jean accumulated the highest number of volunteer hours of any student in the program’s 15-year history.

"I have a concern and compassion for others that inspires me to volunteer for many community projects," Jean said. She helped organize a Bone Marrow Drive for the Red Cross in her town. For Christmas she bought and solicited bears for the homeless shelter children. Each pay cycle in November and December, she would purchase a bear and ask fellow employees to donate another bear to her "bear fund." She turned over 10 bears to be distributed to the children. She also packed food for the victims of Hurricane Floyd, read to the blind, and volunteered at an Adult Day Care for Alzheimer patients. Her favorite volunteer activity was as a tutor/mentor for Myers Park freshmen. She reinforced the algebra she learned by tutoring the Algebra I students.

Her other school activities included serving as her class representative of her school's student government and being a member of the Advanced Wind Ensemble, the DECA Club, the National Honor Society, and the track team. In her spare time she has taken tap and ballet classes for 10 years, and she earned the blue/white stripe belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Jean plans to major in political science or English at Howard University in Washington, DC. She then wants to attend law school and pursue a Jurist Doctorate in corporate law. Her long-term goal is to set up an after-school program for low and middle-income students with learning disabilities. The non- profit program will utilize community professionals in technology, education, and the social sciences. She concluded, "I am hopeful that this program will provide skills that will help those with learning disabilities to cope better in an academic, social, and work environment."

Nelda Price of Leicester, North Carolina, is the Society member who nominated Jean.

Harbison Renewals
Ariel Mann, the 1999 winner, is a junior at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She expects to graduate in May 2003 with a major in Social Sciences, including an emphasis in International Business Management and Culture, a minor in Sign Language/Deaf Studies, and a minor in General Business.

She has been a teacher's assistant for a lower division sign class. This responsibility involves holding office hours, providing one-on-one tutoring sessions, and leading class when the professor is out. She held internships for "service learning" experience last spring and chose to continue working with both agencies, the Tucson Rape and Crisis Center and the OASIS center. She said, "My role in these organizations has increased my responsibilities and provided me leadership positions."

Lissie Richmond, the 2000 winner, attended Radford University in Radford, Virginia, for two years but decided it is a little too big for her and will transfer this fall to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton. She said, "Mary Baldwin prides itself on enabling women to be all that they can be, and that sounds good to me! They have even offered me an academic scholarship based on my achievement at Radford. I would never have believed that I would be earning a scholarship based on my grades!"

Charlie Tucker, the 2001 winner, completed his freshman year at Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina. Charlie noted that he had some struggles adapting to college life and work. He plans to attend summer school to improve his GPA. He still plans a career in management information systems or computer science technology.

Article from : Sentinel : Vol 16, No 3 : July 2002