A teenager doing extraordinary work in the pro-life movement may be eligible for a $2,000 scholarship
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
CHARLOTTE – A handful of students who believe that every life is precious and a faculty member who is willing to stand for the cause – that’s what it takes to start a high school Right to Life club, a group that not only can inform and engage classmates but also can reach the community with the pro-life message.
That’s what happened during the 2006-2007 school year at Olympic High in Charlotte when students Hai-y Le and Thao Nguyen were inspired by the testimony of their volunteer tennis coach who had undergone an abortion during college. Determined to teach others what they had learned from their role model, the girls were at first discouraged to find that some of their most admired teachers wanted no part of their organization.
“Many teachers told us it was too controversial; many students criticized us for choosing a pro-life stance while other problems plagued our society,” Le said.
Even the Christian club at Olympic deemed their issue too contentious for a public school setting.
But then they heard about a social studies teacher who might be a willing advisor.
“As members of a pro-life club, we were vulnerable to school authorities, but Mr. (Lee) Weaver led us through with his vocal and firm stance on life,” said Le.
“All I did was help give them the backbone to do what they wanted to do,” said Weaver, who credits Le with driving the group’s activities. He also assured the students that there was a place for the pro-life message on a public school campus and that he would deal with any interference they might encounter.
The 22-year veteran of the classroom said he was pleasantly surprised to see the number of students who responded positively to the club’s message.
“There are a lot of kids who really want this presented and want an avenue to be able to stand up and say ‘I don’t have to feel bad or wrong for wanting to do the right thing here,'” Weaver said. “They were glad to hear from somebody else other than the one side the school usually lets in.”
Le said the group’s first meeting drew six students, one of whom flatly proclaimed that she was pro-choice.
“We went on with our presentation. By the end of our meeting, she was ecstatic about our mission and apparently had a change of heart,” Le said.
Now a sophomore at Stanford University where she has been serving as secretary of Stanford Students for Life, Le said she is proud of the club she founded for its work both inside and outside the school.
“The ‘Thanks, Mom’ bags we were able to give to the mothers who actually had gone to the abortion clinic but had changed their minds, that was really nice,” Le said. Members of the club made bags and blankets for the moms and decorated picture frames for them as part of a care package to recognize their choice for life.
Back at the school, Le said the club’s peer education brought the pro-life issue to the forefront.
“I think we helped by just making it a topic that kids could talk about at school,” Le said.
Weaver said the group has held movie screenings, sponsored pro-life speakers and protested at the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Members took part in the national March for Life in January 2007 and have been to Raleigh for the North Carolina Right to Life Prayer Breakfast.
Katherine Hearn, the coach who inspired Le with her testimony, was amazed by Le’s tenacity. Part of a sports ministry called Serve Tennis, Hearn often does sidewalk counseling outside of abortion clinics and helped the young club connect with moms in need of support.
“Hai-y Le was just on fire about it. She is an amazing young lady,” Hearn said.
Le, Hearn and Weaver urged pro-life students at all high schools to organize Students for Life clubs.
“If you had a pro-life club in every high school, I can’t imagine how great the impact would be,” said Hearn. “There is no telling how many lives would be saved from that.”
Hearn shares her story as part of a group called “Silent No More,” and would love to see more pro-life teens reaching their peers with the truth about alternatives to abortion and abortion’s side effects.
“A lot of high school girls are having abortions, we already know that,” Hearn said. “We need to get the word out to those who have had them that there is hope, that they can get help for the post traumatic issues they are facing, because without help this is something that will destroy you.”
“We need to talk about the issue in schools and send a message to the pro-choice side that young people are knowledgeable and that we do know the consequences of abortion,” said Le, adding that she never remembers getting that side of the story from public school curricula. “Having a club at every public school would make a huge difference.”
Le suggested that pro-life students first seek out a faculty member they can count on to help them maneuver through the administrative tasks of setting up a new club and also to take the heat if they face opposition.
Weaver challenged teachers to “have some guts and step off the fence.”
“People get this idea that they are scared of offending anyone,” he said. “This is not offending people. We are just trying to stand up for what we think is right.”
Hearn said surely there must be at least one pro-life faculty member in each public high school willing to serve as advisor.
North Carolina Right to Life President Barbara Holt said school clubs often coordinate their efforts with local Right to Life chapters. And Seth Dobson, chairman of the Charlotte Right to Life, said his group would help any area students interested in organizing a club.
Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg), one of several pro-life speakers Le recruited to address Olympic students, would love to see more high school clubs formed.
“I admire anybody that has the courage and determination to start a pro-life club in a public school. … It takes a lot of going against the grain and high school kids are not naturally inclined to do that,” Tillis said. “But when they do, it can save lives.”
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Be A Hero for Life!!!
A teenager doing extraordinary work in the pro-life movement may be eligible for a $2,000 scholarship
Are you a Hero for Life? Are you a teenager who is doing extraordinary work in the pro-life movement? You may be eligible for a $2,000 scholarship.
“What we are really looking for is not just a project, something unique that a student has done over the past year, but also the best candidates will have had some experience with pro-life work beforehand and give some indication that they will carry this on into college,” said N.C. Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg), a member of the interfaith Hero for Life Scholarship committee.
Hai-Y Le, co-founder of Students for Life at Olympic High School, was the 2007 “Hero for Life” winner and has gone on to work for the pro-life cause at Stanford University. Charlotte Right to Life presented Le with the award at last year’s Life is Sweet event.
This fall, Room at the Inn is the scholarship sponsor and will announce the 2008 Hero for Life at its annual banquet in October.
Applications for the 2009 award – for a pro-life service or leadership project that took place between Jan. 31, 2009 and Jan. 31, 2010 – will be accepted early next year. Applicants must be between 14 and 18 years of age.
While the award started four years ago in the Mecklenburg County area, Tillis said the committee would like to expand it to include anyone in North Carolina.
He said potential scholarship candidates should be on the lookout for information on how to apply for the 2009 award later this year with a call for applications in the first quarter of 2010.