This week I sat down with Stephen Thomas Phraner to talk about his experience traveling to Washington, D.C., with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Stephen is originally from Springfield, Missouri. He moved to Athens with his family when he was one. He has just finished his junior year at Athens High School with a 4.2 grade point average and is ranked third out of his class of 237 students.

This is quite impressive, considering all of the extracurricular activities he is involved in. Stephen has been class president each year he has been at Athens High School, and will be senior class president, too. He is looking forward to raising money for his class, planning prom and other senior activities next year. He has also been in the band and serves as youth worship leader at Ford’s Chapel United Methodist church.

The group Stephen traveled to Washington with consisted of six high school students, two middle school students and four adults from NASSP. This meeting was set to take place in January, but was rescheduled for April 3-5 after a blizzard. It was an honor for Stephen to be chosen, considering only one student from Alabama was asked to attend.

The group began by laying the groundwork for this organization. On Sunday and Monday, group members discussed global citizenship and personal wellness. Global citizenship includes helping those in need, such as homeless people in the community and students who may not have food on the weekends. Personal wellness pertains to students’ health, balancing life and self-esteem. There was also an open discussion for the need for more technology in classrooms.

On Tuesday, the group traveled to the Longworth House office building on Capitol Hill where members of the U.S. House meet. Stephen did not get to meet the president, but President Obama did send him a personal letter.

The group will continue to have online meetings throughout the year and will return to Washington D.C. at the beginning of next year. Stephen hopes to meet our senators before then.

I am very proud of Stephen and his accomplishments. We work together at Chick-Fil-A, and I feel we should congratulate our teens as much as possible for doing an outstanding job. I look forward to hearing more about Stephen’s future accomplishments.

I would like to close with Stephen’s favorite quote: “If we ever forget that we are ‘One Nation Under God,’ then we will be a nation gone under.” — Ronald Reagan

If you have any news to share, please email me at agibbs@my.athens.edu or write to me at P.O. Box 553 Athens, AL 35612-0553. I hope to hear from you soon.

One more thing — When you finish reading this article please call your mother and tell her you love her. I sure wish I could call mine.