Clad in a suit and tie, 17-year-old Ian Imperial marched into the Department of Education (DOE) with briefcase in hand. The Salem High School senior was nervous; after all, it isn’t every day he has a chance to sit down to chat with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Imperial, along with fellow Salem SCA classmate Nicholas Eda, recently served as members of an 11-student panel invited to meet with Duncan to discuss college affordability, how to best share college and financing information and the characteristics students look for when trying to decide where to go to school. The DOE hopes to use the information to better help high school students make informed decisions about their college aspirations.
“It was a bit daunting, there was even a picture of President Obama and Nick had to buy a suit jacket,” Imperial said. “Joking aside, it was an important conversation to have with students because we can give them insight in a way that a panel of experts can’t.”
Eda agreed.
“It was great to talk with them about what challenges and concerns we have about the college search experience, rather than them only focus on what they perceive to be the challenges,” Eda said. “I think the exciting part is to think that maybe future students may have an easier job getting into college because of the work we helped to do. “
The DOE is designing a new online rating system for students to use when trying to find comprehensive information about colleges across the country. Their hope is that the system will combat the trend of students choosing a college based solely on where their parents, family and friends have attended, or based simply on what schools are in their community.
As a senior, the conversation with Duncan hit close to home for Imperial.
“I am in the midst of my college search and application process so for me it was great to talk about the difficulty I had comparing and contrasting the schools,” Imperial said. “It gives me hope that my little sister will have an easier time when she begins looking at colleges because of these candid conversations.”
Imperial has applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the University of Virginia(UVA). He plans to major in computer science and would like to one day work for Apple or Google.
Eda, a junior, is leaning toward becoming a chemical engineer or a teacher and SCA advisor. He is considering applying to Princeton, UVA , Virginia Tech and William and Mary.
Salem High School Principal Daniel Keever immediately thought of Eda and Imperial when he received an invitation for Salem to participate in the Student Voices session with Duncan.
“As leaders in our building, I felt certain they would do a great job articulating key perspectives for Secretary Duncan,” Keever said. “They are stellar young men and I was pleased that our school and school division would be represented by two outstanding youth.”
And their work representing Salem hasn’t ended. This weekend, Eda and Imperial are among the 45 member- strong Salem SCA hosting the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Student Leaders Conference at their school. More than 800 students from across Virginia will be attending the conference to learn leadership skills to take back to their student councils, sports teams and clubs/organizations. In addition to the months of work that went in to planning the event, Salem students also will lead an idea share session, school team meetings and a community service project on Saturday to benefit St. Mary’s.
“I think the student staff who have worked to assemble this conference have learned critical collaboration, teamwork and communication skills to share with others,” said Salem SCA Advisor Leslie Miller. “Our hope is that the steering committee has created an instructional program that will give students attending the conference invaluable tools they need to succeed as leaders.”
After all, whether it is talking to the Secretary of Education or inspiring other student leaders, Eda and Imperial say it is all an important piece of the high school landscape.
“If you think about it, high school has its own working democracy and it’s important to have a voice in that,” Eda said. “We can all step up and show pride in our schools, pride in being students and play an active role in making the experience better for everyone.”
Extraordinary young men with a passion and plan for the future-proud to be a SunDevil!