And the
lucky winner is … Yale.
Metro
Academic and Classical High School graduate Jennifer Lunceford
chose Yale out of many universities she was accepted to – including
Princeton, Brown, Vassar and Georgetown.
“It’s
pretty much a full ride,” she said. “They gave me a work study, but
I’ve received outside scholarships so that’s the first thing that
goes away.”
She’s one
of four St. Louis Public Schools graduating seniors who will go on
to Ivy League universities, all of them Metro students.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Xavier duMaine has applied and been accepted to Harvard University, Penn, Columbia University and Brown. Nicholas Schmidt will attend Princeton University to study engineering and visual arts. Sarah Harrington has been accepted to Cornell University and Swarthmore College to study engineering.
“mso-spacerun: yes;”>
Through
Yale’s American Studies track, Lunceford will explore her various
interests, including history, English and politics. Eventually, she
might end up studying law, a childhood interest that intensified
with her time on the debate team and in mock trial
competitions.
At Metro,
she served as co-captain of the varsity tennis team and the Metro
Dance Company, among many other activities. She’s graduating with
an International Baccalaureate diploma, an international program
that prepares students to “live, learn and work in a rapidly
globalizing world.”
She said
she was fortunate to get on the magnet-school track at the
elementary level after a few teachers and administrators urged her
parents to have her abilities tested.
“I’ve
always loved school,” she said. “In kindergarten when we did our
handwriting assignments, I always took it very
seriously.”
From
kindergarten, she attended Kennard Elementary School, McKinley
Middle School and then Metro.
“I want to
create more schools like Metro because so many qualified students
are turned away every year,” she said.
Being on
Student Council, she was one of the representatives who brought up
this point to Superintendent Kelvin Adams at a student
summit.
“Students
shouldn’t be discouraged from going to school because they aren’t
learning anything,” she said.
She
developed disciplined study habits to do better than the examples
she saw around her.
“My
family’s history of teen pregnancy really pushed me to do well in
school,” she said. “Subconsciously, I had to do better.”
She has a
large family, with her mother having six girls and her father
having three girls and three boys.
“A large
percentage of them starting having children during high school or
straight out of high school,” she said. “Without realizing, I was
watching.”
Lunceford
has thought about becoming a political leader. She would propose
that public schools include self-esteem classes and courses where
teens learn about the various forms of sexual
protection.
“A lot of
teens don’t want to talk to their parents – understandably, but
it’s not wise,” she said.
In
addressing teen pregnancy, Lunceford would put education at the
forefront.
Like many
who achieve success, Lunceford seeks out resources and support
networks. Lunceford was part of QuestBridge, a non-profit program
that links motivated low-income students with educational and
scholarship opportunities at some of the nation’s best
colleges.
“It was an
extensive application,” she said. “I really don’t know where I
would have applied if I hadn’t done QuestBridge.”
Aside from
her school activities, her volunteer and community service
activities include serving as a camp counselor for children and
young adults with cerebral palsy and volunteering for the early
learning center at United Way of Greater St. Louis.
“font-family: Verdana;”>Lunceford’s personal life motto is: “Never give up. There is always a solution, you just have to stay in there and persevere,” she said.
