Encinal High School senior wins Princeton Prize in Race Relations
For immediate release: May 1, 2006
Media contact: Anna Cabrera, acabrera@alumni.princeton.edu
SAN FRANCISCO — Awndrea Lee, a senior at Encinal High School in Oakland, has been awarded the Princeton Prize in Race Relations for her efforts to improve relations between students of color and teachers at her high school.
Lee will be presented with a $1,000 award at an afternoon ceremony in Preservation Park in Oakland on May 6. Two other students from the area, Kent Coupe and Michael Meo, will receive certificates of accomplishment at the ceremony.
The Princeton Prize in Race Relations is an awards program that recognizes high school students for outstanding work in their schools or communities to advance the cause of race relations. The program was launched in 2003 in the Washington, D.C., and Boston metropolitan areas. This year, it was also offered in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Francisco.
As a junior, Lee was one of 24 students in the nation selected by the American Civil Liberties Union to attend a youth summit on the influences and consequences of the juvenile justice system. Lee’s commitment to her school and her community has extended to her work in improving relations between students of color and teachers of Encinal High School. After asking students what they felt about their school and what they thought was needed, she initiated discussions with the principal, teachers and students about unconscious decisions and their effects on students of color. Lee also spearheaded a school-wide academic assembly focused on testing achievement among African-American students.
As an officer of the Black Student Union, she helped bring in speakers from various youth programs and parents of successful alumni. Included on the agenda was a discussion about test statistics, stereotypes and the effects of negative language on students. She also participated in a forum on race with nationally recognized diversity expert Glenn Singleton, which was televised and aired on a local cable station. For her senior project, Ms. Lee is organizing four awareness assemblies on institutionalized racism, classism, stereotypes and the negative use of language.
The San Francisco Princeton Prize Committee also will award certificates of achievement to two seniors from De La Salle High School Kent Coupe and Michael Meo.
Coupe was a founding member of the Student Coalition on Respectful Education (S.C.O.R.E.) at De La Salle High School. Elected by his classmates to be a group leader, he led other students through coursework to broaden awareness of different forms of prejudice and racism. In this role he coordinated meetings, facilitated discussion among students, gathered faculty feedback, and revised the curriculum with the input from peers. His work challenged his peers to explore their own prejudices and resulted in a more culturally sensitive environment. In addition to S.C.O.R.E., Mr. Coupe has been active in the community on a number of levels, including the Boy Scouts. He has made a positive impact on this organization, formally by being the head organizer of his Eagle Scout project and informally by mentoring younger scouts.
Mr. Meo helped launched the Student Coalition on Respectful Education (S.C.O.R.E.) at De La Salle High School. He worked with a team of four upperclassmen to plan and develop four workshops for the freshman class on social issues of prejudice, discrimination and polarization. Using role-playing, storytelling, group discussion, film and structured exercises, 45 nominated juniors and seniors teach freshmen students how to identify challenges caused by peer pressure, how to explore their own prejudices and stereotypes, and the dangers of acting on them. As the Vice President of the National Honors Society, Mr. Meo spearheaded a tutoring and mentoring program at a local under-funded elementary school. He took the lead in contacting the elementary school, developing tutoring schedules and addressing challenges as they arose. Mr. Meo also delivers food to and spends time in the homeless park in Berkeley. As a junior, he received the Brother Lawrence Allen Memorial award, given to the junior who stands out above and beyond others in the areas of leadership, scholarship and service.