A Metea Valley High School senior has the chance to meet the next U.S. president and members of his cabinet.
Sung Keun “Shawn” Park, of Naperville, is one of two Illinois students selected to take part in an intensive, week-long, Washington, D.C.-based study of the federal government and the people who lead it.
Shawn and Gloria Oladipo, of Chicago, each will receive $10,000 scholarships and participate in the 55th annual U.S. Senate Youth Program’s Washington Week scheduled for March 4 to 11, according to Illinois’ U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, who announced names of their delegates Wednesday.
Shawn will be part of the group of 104 student delegates selected from every state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense. They will attend meetings and briefings with senators, the president, members of Congress, Congressional staff, a justice of the Supreme Court, leaders of cabinet agencies, an ambassador to the United States and senior members of the national media.
Delegates also will tour many of the national monuments and museums and stay at the historic Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.
Created by a Senate resolution in 1962 and funded by the Hearst Foundation since inception, the program is a merit-based competition that selects 104 of the most outstanding high school students in the country with the aim of providing a deeper knowledge of the American political process and encouraging a lifelong commitment to public service, according to the announcement.
Shawn, who plans on majoring in political science in college, is active in many student government groups.
He serves as an executive representative of the Metea Valley Student Government Class of 2017 and is the head chair of the Illinois State Board of Education Student Advisory Council, a group that advises the school board and advocates for policy changes.
In addition, he has attended the American Legion’s Illinois Premier Boys State, where he was elected state president pro tempore of the Senate.
Besides Shawn’s student government work, the self-proclaimed nerd and science lover volunteers at the Field Museum of Natural History, the announcement said.
Students enter the competition by being nominated by a teacher or principal and designated by the head of their state’s education department, in this case state Superintendent Tony Smith.
Transportation and all expenses for Washington Week are paid for by the Hearst Foundation, which also funds each student’s $10,000 college scholarship.
Twitter @SBakerSun1
