The students attending the Arizona Symposium met with the Deputy Treasurer of Arizona inside the Trading Room in the Treasurer's Office. Because of the number of students attending (more than 100) they were divided into two groups with half going into the Trading Room at one time.

Junior Statesmen is working to raise $50,000 in the next two weeks to help deserving students attend Junior Statesmen Summer School. If you enjoy reading this blog I'd like to ask you to make a contribution. Junior Statesmen is a huge part of who I am today. No contribution is too small or too big and you can help by going to www.jsa.org/donate. (Click the left button "make a donation" to make a tax-deductible contribution to the general Junior Statesmen Scholarship Fund).

Here's more information from an email I received today from Junior Statesmen:

We have at least 50 students who are struggling to raise enough funds in this tough economy to make it to Junior Statesmen Summer School. We'd like to raise $50,000 in the next 10 days to get them there and we need your help (see below to find out how).

These are bright and ambitious students looking for the opportunity of a lifetime that our Summer programs provide. Here are just a few of their stories (we've changed their names for privacy and there are many more talented student leaders just like them):

* Steven is a 4.0 student from Florida. He's active in student government, the marching band and the math team. His mother is a maid making $6,000 a year (his father is not in the picture). He wants to go to our Stanford program and take A.P. U.S. Government (the tuition is $4,395). We've given him a scholarship of $900 and he's raised $2,300 on his own from 20 individual donors by going door-to-door in his community. He needs another $1,195 in order to be able to attend.

* Maria is a young woman from Los Angeles. She's been a JSA student leader for two years. Her mom is finishing nursing school and works at night to pay the bills. JSA has changed her life. An Ivy League education was not a possibility she ever considered before joining JSA. She wants to study Civil Rights at our Yale Summer School. We've worked with her to raise $2,395. She needs $2,000 more to attend.

* Michael is a JSA leader from Michigan. Both of his parents were laid off from the auto industry. He has a 3.9 GPA. During the year, he raised money to bring his chapter to all three school-year conventions in the Midwest and recruited 30 students to come to our summer programs. He's organized car washes, tapped local businesses, and is working as a golf caddie this Summer to pay his way. He needs $1,700 more to study International Relations at our Georgetown program.

If you want to see the hope our programs inspire, just read what Jamal from California wrote in his scholarship application (he's raised all but $1,800 of his tuition this past year by tutoring kids in his community): "Have you ever had the feeling that you wouldn't make it out, or that the whole world was against you? I know somebody has, but what about that feeling your whole entire life? From growing up without the presence of a father figure, to being on the streets in another person's home so that your mother could make ends meet by working strenuous graveyard shifts. To almost being evicted because my mom's income wasn't meeting the standards, to being put out of class because the tuition wasn't paid. My life isn't nearly halfway over and I have experienced a "mid-life crisis" that most people would encounter at the age of 40, but in my case, that age came a little sooner at the age of 11. Since I could remember, my mom always taught me to become a leader and, no matter what happened, as you had an education, your opportunities would become endless. I know her words are true, but it's kind of hard to make things possible when you're in the financial situation I'm in. This gives me the will to do better in life, to become something, to make a name for myself, to actually be somebody in life. Having an opportunity to go to the Junior Statesmen Summer School at Princeton would be one of a lifetime and would further my dreams of being a leader."

Your contribution will make a difference in the lives of these students. Please call us at 1.800.334.5353 to make your contribution today. You may also donate directly on line at www.jsa.org/donate. (Click the left button "make a donation" to make a tax-deductible contribution to the general Junior Statesmen Scholarship Fund).

Please be as generous as you can, it's important for America's future. -- Ted