Christian Crues, 16, a junior at Bowling Green High School

A Bowling Green High School student will be among a group of students visiting the White House in January to talk about her experiences in a civic engagement program.

Christian Crues, 16, a junior at Bowling Green High School, has served as a mentor for fifth-graders at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School through the Public Achievement program, which also has help from Western Kentucky University students, who will be on the trip with Crues.

The program is a partnership between WKU and local school districts, and it aims to teach young people how to be engaged citizens and address issues in their school and communities.

“At the end of the day, it’s about teaching young people how to solve problems,” said Paul Markham, co-director of WKU’s Institute for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, which developed Public Achievement.

WKU students serve as coaches and coordinators for the program, and they go into area schools to teach kids critical thinking skills that help them identify challenges to solve, Markham said.

Ultimately, the kids decide what issue they want to address and they have to solve it themselves, learning real-world lessons, he said.

Crues heard about Public Achievement when a guidance counselor visited one of her classes last year and told students about the program. She was part of the pilot program last year, and is back this year for its first official year.

The Bowling Green High School students involved in Public Achievement chose education as their problem to tackle, and decided to help fifth-graders at Dishman transition into sixth grade.

Crues said she wanted to part of Public Achievement because she likes kids and enjoys being a role model for them. She picked Dishman because that’s where she went to school.

“I went there when I was in elementary school, so I can kind of connect with them because I’ve been there,” Crues said.

She visited fifth-graders at Dishman once a week to teach them leadership and study skills, among other skills that might help them on their way to middle school.

“I really got a close connection with the kids,” Crues said. “They opened up to us and got close with their mentors.”

Crues will be part of the group representing Public Achievement at the launch of “For Democracy’s Future” on Jan. 10 at the White House. The program will be showcased as a model of civic education and engagement.

When BGHS Principal Gary Fields called Crues into his office to tell her she was going to the White House, she had no idea why she had been called in.

“I knew it was huge,” Crues said. “No one gets called into Mr. Fields’ office.”

She was shocked once she found out.

“I was so speechless,” she said. “I couldn’t even say anything.”

Markham said Crues was chosen to represent Public Achievement at the event because she did such a good job in the mentoring program. She’ll also be joined by WKU students Bianca Brown and Noelle Johnson, who serve as coaches, as well as graduate students Lindsey Ardrey and She’Rohn Draper, who are coordinators.

“I know every day how great our students are and how important their work is, but it’s extremely gratifying to have someone else recognize that,” Markham said.