Shaping the Leaders of Tomorrow. Group Picks Students From Diverse Areas, Backgrounds for Hands-On Training

Joseph Boone, a junior at Anacostia High School in the District, and Natalie Wainger, a sophomore at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, do not travel in the same social circles.

Besides the physical distance between them, Boone’s high school is predominantly black, as are his friends, and Wainger’s school is predominantly white, as are her friends.

But through a program aimed at finding the leaders of tomorrow among the high school youths of today, the teenagers have become buddies. And that’s part of what Youth Leadership Greater Washington is all about.

"I thought everyone else [in the program] would be different from me, but I found out they’re actually a lot like me," said Boone, 16, captain of the drum line and an aspiring varsity football player. "I’ve made friends with a lot of them."

By Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202609.html?hpid=sec-education