The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by Skye Dunlap Stepping Up: Officers of Alpha Lambda Epsilon, a new honor society at Willow Glen High, are (l-r) Theresa Ngo-Anh, 17, secretary; Laurel Stark, 16, vice president of social enrichment; Tina Catania, 17, vice president of community service; Katie McGovern, 17, vice president of school services; Kristen Rovai, 17, treasurer; and Megan Gilliam, 17, president. New honor society wants to provide peer mentors By Mary Spicuzza Swing may be king and retro fashion all the rage, but student leaders at Willow Glen High School hope to revive more than just music and clothing from the good ol' days. The group, calling itself Alpha Lambda Epsilon, wants to make a well-rounded balance of good grades and school involvement cool once again. The determined crew derives the name of the new honor society from the Greek letters for the acronym for "Activities, Leadership and Excellence." Students involved hope to promote school spirit and involvement while acting as academic mentors for the younger students. They also aim to encourage their upperclassmen peers to stay focused on the college-preparatory process. ALE already has 70 members, less than a month after its first meeting on Sept. 23. The group is made up of juniors and seniors who have qualified by making the grade academically, as well as participating in sports and other school activities. Soon ALE members will be easier to spot busily darting through the halls of the high school--that is, after their charcoal-gray sweatshirts decorated with the club's gold and red Greek letters arrive. They'll be sporting them once a week to provide visual inspiration for students to stay motivated. Alpha Lambda Epsilon's plans include organizing school and community service such as tutoring, helping to plan school social activities and hosting SAT prep courses. It may sound like a full course load of responsibility, but these achievers are obviously no strangers to hard work. The group will meet once a week at lunch time with its adviser, physics and computers teacher Mark Selden, to plan activities. "In a sense I just watch. I think the biggest part of leadership is letting them lead themselves, and they're doing a great job," Selden says. Senior Megan Gilliam serves as president and has an organized team of several vice presidents, a treasurer and a secretary. Laurel Stark, vice president of social activities, says she derived inspiration to help start ALE from her mother, who was in a similar high-achiever group when she was in high school. "If I could go back in time to my mother's graduating class in Seattle, I'd be just like her...well, with a few exceptions," Stark teases. Stark believes times have gotten a lot more complicated for young people these days, and that it's become too easy to slip into bad habits. With the help of teachers and "supportive new administrators," the students themselves have been the driving force in shaping the group. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, October 14, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.