American Samoa will be represented next month at the Youth Leadership Summit in Washington D.C. by local high school student Anthony Talosaga, who will be a Junior at Leone High School this September.

The Youth Leadership Summit is the flagship program in Youth Services under the auspices of the National Council on Community Education Partnership (NCCEP) according to their website, www.edpartnerships.org.

In conversation with Samoa News over the weekend, Talosaga, who is a member of Leone’s Technology Club as well as their Green Thumb Club, said that he applied for the Leadership Summit with the encouragement of GEAR UP staff by writing an essay in which he gave people “an idea of the barriers that students face in school which keep them from graduating.”

“I spoke of the use of drugs and alcohol, and student violence which all have an effect on the way students perform. I especially talked about kids using alcohol, which affects their ability to focus in school” he said.

Teen pregnancy, which is hardest on girls, and peer pressure which influences students in negative ways were also listed in his essay as contributing factors to the dropout rate in high schools here.

He stated that one way to prevent these problems is to enforce laws, such as our under-age drinking policy.

“I say the best way is to stop stores from selling alcohol,” he declared, adding that “parents are a huge influence in our lives, and some parents also drink, which makes it hard for the students.”

He spoke of the ability to influence student decision-making, stating, saying “whatever we do to prevent things… it’s still up to the student, they must decide… so, it’s important to help them make correct decisions” he added.

Samoa News asked Talosaga, “How do you do that? How do we help students make correct decisions?” 

“Building character is the answer” he replied.

Talosaga continued, “We build character by pledging allegiance to the moral advice of our parents… Samoan cultural respect is important, and contributing to the village and the church is important, too… reading the Bible helps us look at things positively” he said. “It helps us to know the difference between right and wrong.”

There is too much alcohol and drug use, he emphasized, and it causes fellow students to skip classes and worse. A lot of them drink, he noted, and it stops them from being able to graduate.

NCCEP says on their website that the Youth Summit was created in an effort to include student perspectives and the opinions of young people, giving them “national opportunities… to participate in the NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference.”

Blending leadership development with the experience of participating in a professional conference, the Summit aims to “teach participants how to be advocates for their schools and communities, empowering them to become the voice for their peers.”

Youth leaders, known as GEAR UP Scholars, work together to compile a Summit report focused on what educators should consider as they design strategies and programs for increasing student achievement.

Talosaga credited Mrs. Lam Yuen, a biology teacher at LHS for encouraging him to join GEAR UP, which holds morning sessions each day to support math and reading comprehension and vocabulary skills.

“We also have a GEAR UP writing session at school,  where we write our autobiographies, book reports, poems and other things to keep in a special binder.”

The 32 delegates to the Summit will come from around the U.S. from places as diverse as Princeton, Maine, St. Louis Missouri, Zapata, Texas and Perris, California.  Talosaga is the first from American Samoa.

The culmination of the Summit, and the highlight of the NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference, is the presentation of the report to the conference attendees.

For a half an hour, the Scholars are given the stage to voice their opinions and share their ideas. Conference attendees frequently comment that the Summit report brings a fresh and energized perspective that reminds them why they became engaged in the education arena.

“I just hope I can bring something back which will help my peers… I know a lot of them go through hard times… I want them all to graduate.” said Talosaga.

GEAR UP STUDENT INVITED TO NATIONAL CONFERENCE

According to a press release from the American Samoa Community College, Gear UP- American Samoa (GUAS) Anthony Talosaga, 16, a sophomore at Leone High School, will join 31 of his peers from across the United States at the Summit, which takes place in the nation’s capitol from July 17 – 21.

Anthony, an active member of the GEAR UP program since its inception, comes from a single parent household. His mother Taliilagi, a Star Kist employee, has raised four children with the help of her sister Tiki and the latter’s husband, Tai Tusipa.

While doing his share to help his family, Anthony has still managed to excel academically, earning First Place recognition in his class during both the 8th and 9th grade in the subjects of Science and Math.  During the 8th grade, he scored highest in his class on the SAT test, and has gone on to score high on the PSAT and ASVAB tests as well.

His extracurricular activities include a daily LDS morning seminary from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m., as well as participation in this year’s Math Competition, Speech Festival, Samoa Day, and Science Fair.

The NCCEP asks students applying to attend the Leadership Summit the question, “If you had the opportunity to address [the Summit], what would you tell them is the toughest educational issue that you and your peers face? What solutions would you recommend to eradicate this problem?”

 GUAS will cover his travel costs, while the NCCEP will host him for his stay in Washington, DC. “We feel really proud that Anthony has earned this honor, when you consider that some of the brightest students from across the nation were vying for the 31 open slots at the Summit,” said GUAS Director Tupua Mr. Roy Fua. “All of us at GEAR UP think Anthony will do an excellent job representing American Samoa and all of his peers in the program.”

At the conference, Tupua and partners will give a presentation on “GEAR UP Reforming Schools through Community Involvement.”

Some of the local and national GEAR UP partners also attending and presenting at the conference will include DOE Director Dr. Claire Poumele, DHSS Director Ms. Leilua Stevenson, DOH Dentist Dr. Anaise Uso, DOH Health Educator Mrs. Rosita Utu, Fa’asao Marist High School Principal Mr. Victor Langkilde, Tafuna High School Counselor Mrs. Seira Moor, and Mrs. Carol Carpenter, a Pima Prevention Partnership Research Evaluator from Tucson, Arizona.

More than 200 GEAR UP high school students have participated in the Youth Leadership Summit since the inception of the program in 2003. The NCCEP has been partnering with GEAR UP for Excellence to present the Summit since 2005. Blending leadership development with the experience of participating in a professional conference, the Summit teaches participants how to be advocates for their schools and communities, empowering them to become the voice for their peers.

Youth leaders, known as GEAR UP Scholars, work together to compile a Summit report focused on what educators should consider as they design strategies and programs for increasing student achievement.

For more information about the NCCEP, including the Annual Conference and Youth Leadership Summit, visit www.edpartnerships.org.