Student needs money for special summer program

Rebecca Malone

Thursday, June 14, 2001 | 9:37 a.m.

Lounging at the pool, taking trips and getting part-time jobs are common activities of high school students in the summer.

Thoughts of classes and homework are often far from their minds and not in their plans.

Rachel Bicklestone stands out from her classmates because of a craving for knowledge and unrelenting determination to get where she wants to go.

Bicklestone, 17, plans to take on the 2001 Junior Statesmen Summer School, if she can raise the money in time. The Community College High School student learned last week that she was accepted to the summer program, which is designed for students interested in politics and government, and was left with a little more than a week to raise about $3,500 for the enrollment fee.

"I have a couple of friends who are going on trips and attending camps, but I have done all that before, and I have never had an opportunity like this," Bicklestone said. "Politics is something I am really interested in, and when I get excited about something I am ready to take it on."

Bicklestone said she immediately got busy sending letters to organizations and small businesses asking for their support.

So far Bicklestone has been able to raise $1,700, which is less than half of the total she needs by Monday.

She will go to Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., July 1-26 for the program designed to teach high school students a semester's worth of college level work in one month.

"This is for students who are looking for an academic challenge and have the capabilities to back it up," said David Beiser, who runs the same program at Yale. "We look for students who really want to do this and are not challenged in their high school."

Bicklestone will take an advanced placement American Government class, a speech communication class and congressional workshops. The students attend classes Monday through Saturday, and handle homework assignments and a term paper on top of that.

The program, held at five universities, also provides special opportunities for students. Each school will have leaders in government and the media available for students to meet and question. The students who attend the Stanford program will also take a day trip to San Francisco to explore the city's culture.

Anyone wishing to make a tax deductible donation can call Bicklestone for more information at 450-6699.