Wasilla student selected for national government program

WASILLA — Lucas Arthur is already a big deal in local academic circles, and the teen is now well on his way to becoming known beyond the borough’s borders.

Last month, Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Mike Hanley named the Mat-Su Career and Technical High junior as one of the state’s two delegates for the U.S. Senate Youth Program. The program awards each delegate $5,000 for a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. this spring, where students will hear policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the departments of State and Defense, and directors of federal agencies. They will also meet a Supreme Court justice.

“I didn't expect to get (the scholarship) because typically seniors are selected, but I was fortunate enough to make it,” Arthur said.

Delegates are chosen by each state’s department of education based on students’ grades, test scores, letters of recommendation, a personal essay on their leadership experience, and a persuasive essay on an issue of national importance (Arthur chose “the social inequities of bail in the current justice system,” he said). The program was created by the U.S. Senate and funded by the Hearst Foundations.

This won’t be the first time Mr. Arthur goes to Washington. He’s been there twice for the National Science Bowl competition, something he’d like to do again. Last school year he and a couple of his classmates traveled for the National Science Bowl, Ocean Sciences Bowl and Science Olympiad competitions, something no Alaska team had done until that time.

Tim Lundt, who has coached Arthur in all three activities over the years, complimented his pupil on being a leader who is well organized, manages his time well and is committed to a given task.

“If you ask him to get stuff done, he’ll get it done,” Lundt said.

Arthur plans to participate in each of the science competitions again this year, in addition to being involved with the National Technical Honors Society and Academic World Quest at his school (the latter includes a competition similar to the Ocean Sciences Bowl that tests students’ knowledge of global issues and foreign policy).

He is also Career Tech’s student body president, and runs cross-country for the Colony Knights.

“Luke’s a special kid,” said Career Tech principal Mark Okeson. “He’s smart, he’s athletic, he’s civil minded — he’s got the whole package.”

Okeson said he couldn’t remember another Career Tech student being named to the program, though he started his tenure there four years after the school opened.

Student government adviser Barbara Jackson (Petukh), who’s been at the school six years, said Arthur was the first to her knowledge, too.

“I’ve written recommendations for several students before, and I’ve always felt that they’re great candidates, so I’m thrilled that one of my students was (finally) selected,” she said.

Arthur said he’s most excited to network with the other delegates of the program, who, he said, have “lots of opinions and varying expertise.”

Arthur’s passion is science, but he “really just love(s) learning,” he said. Though he doesn’t have career plans yet, he hopes to study astrophysics and economics at California Institute of Technology or Massachusetts Institute of Technology after he graduates high school next year.

“We’ll see where that takes me,” he said.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.