But as alternate student board member, that's her job. And her participation on the board of education is just one way this senior is taking an active role in her school.

Each year, district staff selects two high school students, one regular and one alternate, to serve as student representatives on the school board. Angelica attends board meetings and, when student board member and Lincoln High School student Susan Nguyen is absent, reports the goings-on at the district high schools.

Angelica's behind-the-scenes glance into the inner workings of the district has given her a unique perspective on the laborious and often tedious life of an administrator in the educational field.

Angelica says her fellow students would be surprised to learn how the administrative aspect of the district functions. "There are barriers and conflicts that board members have to resolve in the district. And they have to vote on a lot of things."

The 17-year-old senior initially became interested in serving on the school board when Willow Glen High School Principal Elaine Farace suggested that she interview for the position. At first, she says, she wasn't sure if she had the qualifications to compete with the other applicants. According to Angelica, English and writing aren't her strong suits. But she acquiesced to Farace's suggestion.

"I thought 'Oh, if you think it will be good for me, I'll do it," she says. "It's something new."

Farace, however had no doubts about her qualifications.

"Angelica has a real interest in making Willow Glen High School the best place it can be for all the students," she says. "I believed she would show this same interest for students districtwide. And I knew she would be really honest in what she brings to the board."

After undergoing an interview conducted by board members Carol Myers and Gary Rummelhoff, Angelica learned that she had landed the position as alternate.

According to Myers, competition for student board member positions is usually quite stiff.

"We get so many outstanding applicants," she says. "They have such great talent, enthusiasm and leadership skills." But Angelica, she says, stood out enough to be selected as an alternate.

"She's a very sweet young lady," Myers says. "We are very fortunate to have her as alternate board member."

Sweetness just might be in Angelica's nature—her Associate Student Body adviser dubbed her "La Gran Madre."

"I've always been like the mama," she says. "I'm very motherly to everyone. Even with older people, I call them 'mijo' and 'mija.'"

Her instinct for nurturing others, Angelica says, was partially inspired by watching her mother work at her alma mater, Gardner Academy, formerly known as Gardner Elementary School.

"She is very caring for everyone," Angelica says. "All the kids loved her."

And like her mother, Angelica says she reaches out to her peers, including those who might feel excluded at school.

"I try to start a conversation with people I see having a bad day," she says. "I give them a hug and try to keep them feeling good about themselves."

She recalls a time she visited her sister in Sacramento and helped supervise lunch time at her sister's children's school. There was one little boy, "the bad one," whom the teachers monitored carefully and frequently scolded. But Angelica found a gentler way to change his behavior.

"They were constantly watching him and asking him why he was doing what he was doing," she says. "I said to him, 'I don't like yelling, but don't do that. Now, we'll go out and play at recess.' And he was behaving and asking, 'Are you really going to play with me?'"

Angelica says she tries to see the best in everyone, from young troublemakers to the misunderstood adolescent lurking in the hallways.

"I always try to seek the positive," she says. "That kid could be the next president, but other people are focusing on the negative and bringing his or her self-esteem down."

Angelica believes her instinct for reaching out to people on a personal basis helped her win yet another leadership position, Willow Glen High School Associated Student Body president. Although she used a strictly word-of-mouth approach in her campaign, she says she was able to attract students who don't usually participate in school elections to the voting booth by getting to know her schoolmates on a personal basis.

"I had never seen such a big turnout of Latinos for voting," she says. "They don't usually turn out, because it is either not appealing or there is a language barrier. Even if I hadn't won, I felt like I accomplished something."

Not surprisingly, Angelica describes herself as a natural-born leader.

"I like to be the leader, not a follower," she says. "And I try to encourage others to take the lead. I tell them they just need to get out there and try."

Angelica is considering pursuing a career as a teacher but, like most high school seniors, isn't sure what she truly wants to do after she graduates. If she does decide to become an educator, she says she wants to work at an elementary school.

"Kids that age are like a clean slate that you start engraving into," she says. "And they really look up to their teachers. I know I did. I thought they were the coolest people ever."

Although she says all her teachers have been influential, one teacher Angelica remembers fondly is Miss Harding, her kindergarten teacher at Gardner Academy. When she entered elementary school, Angelica spoke only Spanish, the language her parents used at home. Yet with her teacher's patience, hard work and a young child's natural aptitude for learning a new language, she became fluent in English by the time she entered the first grade.

The strong Gardner connection is still there for Angelica. Elaine Farace was the principal at Gardner when Angelica was a student there. Farace says she recognized a leader in Angelica since she was a kindergartner.

"I always saw her assertiveness, caring and leadership skills. These are things you can see in a small child," she says. "But I've also seen a lot of development. She's taken chances and risks, and her confidence level has gone up. She has really grown up."

The maturing young woman, Farace says, has become a solid presence among students and teachers alike at the high school.

"She's a good student, and she gets along well with the staff and her peers," Farace says. "We can always count on her to follow through."

And, after nearly 13 years, Angelica isn't the only Montelongo with whom the principal is familiar.

"It's been so much fun to come back and connect with Angelica and her mom and dad," Farace says. "It's great to see how proud they are of her."

Yet that pride is something overridden when her parents have a hard time understanding her extensive involvement in school activities, Angelica says. Both her mother and father emigrated from Mexico, and neither was able to finish school because they had to work to support their family.

"My parents do recognize the fact that I have to stay in school," she says. "But before I became the Associated Student Body president, they used to say things like, 'Sure, you can help everyone at the school out, but you can't come home and do chores?' And I used to say, 'Mom, it will get me somewhere.'"

Despite their conflicting views on the benefits of education, Angelica says she understands where her immigrant parents are coming from.

"A lot of Latino parents don't know any better than to work, work, work," she says. "For them, it's like, if they have something to eat, they're good."

Although the family has experienced some hard times in the past, Angelica says she wouldn't want to change her experiences.

"It's helped shape who I've become," she says. "I don't take things for granted. I refuse to."

In fact, the precocious high school student says her past struggles have ingrained in her a desire to advocate for others who are oppressed.

"I want to become someone influential," she says. "Someone who can change things for my people and all others who are seen as lower. I want to be involved and informed and try to help get others informed and show them what needs to happen."

Angelica is currently flexing her powers of advocacy by participating at the school's Gay/Straight Alliance. She says she became involved in the Gay/Straight Alliance because she knows people who identify themselves as gay but are afraid to come out to their friends and family, and she wants to help create a safe environment for them.

"Even if you don't want to accept [a person's sexual orientation], you should try to accept that person for who they are," she says.

The club plans presentations and distributes handouts from the Billy DeFrank Center.

"A lot of what we do is handing stuff out to people," Angelica says. "They may throw it away, but at least they have the knowledge that we're out there."

Although the club tries to make itself known to the student body, Angelica says she would like to see a more diverse group attendance at meetings.

"Right now, it's mostly girls," she says. "I would like to bring some jocks in here and sit them down."

Besides fighting against homophobia, Angelica is the public relations representative for the campus Latino Club. A large part of her job is contacting local radio stations about events the club is sponsoring and trying to get them to come to the school.

As her leadership strengthens, Angelica thinks she might want to consider serving the San Jose community as a public official.

"I would like to have some high position in the community," she says. "I would be the type of leader who wants to know what you think, especially the people who might not say anything. Those who complain most are usually not involved."

She also has aspirations to take her diplomatic skills out into the world and beyond the San Jose city limits.

"I'm going to be the first woman president. Just you watch," she says.