3/13/08
Outstanding Manning Jr. High student gets trip of a lifetime for leadership
By Eric Goold

Eric Goold/Manning Times

Justin McArthur will go to Washington D.C. on March 24 as part of the People to People World Leadership Forum. He was nominated by one of his former teachers, Aggie Bradham, shown here with McArthur last Friday afternoon.

Justin McArthur, a seventh-grader at Manning Jr. High School, was recently selected to be a member of the prestigious People to People World Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C
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“I’m excited,” said McArthur, a 13-year-old. “I’ve never been to Washington before so I’m excited to see it.”

As part of the Forum, McArthur will earn high school credit while studying leadership and exploring some of the United States’ most prominent monuments and institutions.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower originally established the People to People program in 1956 to help fulfill his vision of fostering world citizenship among young students who’ve displayed strong leadership abilities.

From March 24-30, McArthur and other youngsters will go to famous sites like Capitol Hill, Colonial Williamsburg, the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institute.

“I think I’m looking forward to seeing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier the most,” said McArthur. “I’m very interested in history, especially military history like World War I, World War II and the Civil War. I’m interested in seeing a lot of the monuments we’re going to visit.”

Teacher Aggie Bradham, who first encountered him during a computer lab, nominated McArthur for the program.

“They contacted me. I think they send out information every year looking for applicants,” said Bradham. “I thought of Justin right away. He’s always displaying strong leadership ability. He’s an excellent student, he’s energetic and he’s very, very competitive. He’s a great example for the other students.”

Competitive might be the most appropriate word to describe McArthur.

“He was always organizing the other kids into teams,” said Bradham. “He’d make up games and points to see who could be the best at certain tasks.”

McArthur puts it a simple way.

“I don’t like to lose,” he said. “I like all sports. Football, baseball, basketball. I play them all. I think Peyton Manning is my favorite athlete, although I like a lot of different ones.”

McArthur has learned valuable leadership lessons through sports.

“You have to all work together as a team in order to win,” he said. “No matter what. You can’t be successful without teamwork.”

McArthur lives in Alcolu and has gone to schools in Clarendon School District 2 all his life, so he considers Manning his home.

McArthur looks forward to learning more about leadership, although he clearly has some leadership skills already.

“I think it’s important to make sure that everybody likes you,” he said. “You’ve got to have a good attitude and be positive.”

The up-and-coming youngster has many interests like history, politics and law, but he thinks someday he might go to college to study pharmacy. Whatever he chooses to do professionally, there’s no doubt he’ll be good at it right from the start.

“He always strives to do his best,” said Bradham.

McArthur drafted a letter and sent it to prominent Manning businesses asking for donations to help defray travel costs for People to People. If anyone is interested in contributing, checks can be made out in his name and sent to P.O. Box 168 in Alcolu, 29001.