Stuart Student Embodies Spirit of MLK

Martin Luther King, Jr. died decades before Alisha Mehndiratta was born, but King's legacy resonates with the 18-year-old student.

"Dr. King had the 'audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits,' and I have the audacity to insist that we can achieve his dream by merely looking back to remember what makes this country so special," Mehndiratta wrote in a recent essay for Princeton University's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. school competition. 

Her full essay is reprinted, with permission, below.

Mehndiratta, who lives in Skillman, won second place in the University's annual Literary and Video Contest for her grade category. She received $75 and an award certificate.

The University asked New Jersey students in grades 4 through 12 to examine the importance of a quality education and its impact on personal success. Contestants were asked to consider the persistent inequities in educational access or achievement and propose solutions.

"The most important obstacle to recognize is the widespread economic inequality of the United States," she wrote in her essay.

Mehndiratta has entered the contest before - earning both a second place and honorable mention-  said this year's topic was most revalent to her, she said. 

"The topic this year was really, really interesting and current," she said. "The topic was education, there's lot of talk about education really declining in America. My parents are immigrants and I’m really excited about what it’s like here and I want America to have the reputation it used to have in the world."

Contest winners were recognized at a ceremony in Princeton’s Richardson Hall on Monday, Jan. 16.

Mehndiratta, whose parents are from India, is a senior who plans to attend college in the fall, although she is now waiting to hear back from her colleges of choice. She has not yet decided on a field of study. 

"I'm planning to take a wide variety of courses," she said. "I've always loved English and I love AP U.S. History and I love physics."

Including Mehndiratta, Stuart students won 11 of the 16 awards presented at the University's Martin Luther King Day Celebration on Jan. 16:

“The legacy of Dr. King truly resonates with our Sacred Heart commitment to educate our girls to a strongsense of community and a lifetime dedication to learning and service," said Dr. Patty Fagin, Stuart's head of school. 

Looking Forward, Looking Back

By Alisha Mehndiratta

Picture the frightened faces of the Little Rock Nine, the courageous African American children who ventured into a sea of hatred in order to receive an education and, more importantly, pave the way for their brothers and sisters of the future. Now, imagine the schools of today, filled with children of every color, reading together, learning together, and playing together. Still, I find myself troubled when I try to look into the knowing eyes of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Does he know that within our small community, the economic and education gap is a growing abyss? Does he notice how our potential solutions only end up making the problem worse? Between the time of the Little Rock Nine and today, American education reached a peak during which we were the world’s envy. We proved that we not only had the ability to overcome a problem, but the determination to achieve beyond its boundaries. We can do it again. The answer to our dilemma is not only looking out at those who are succeeding; rather, we need to look inwards and to the past, remembering what used to make American education so coveted, and figuring out how to revive its strength.

The most important obstacle to recognize is the widespread economic inequality of the United States. 20% of American children live in poverty, most of whom are African American or Hispanic with an utter lack of the proper atmosphere to study at home or at school. Recently, technology has been regarded as the ingenious answer to such differences in educational environment and potential. However, while its potential may be endless, there is an underlying problem we must solve before declaring it the answer to our academic woes. I have learned that technology is still not reaching every sliver of society. This year, my own school has become a leader in using technology in education, giving iPads to each student and embedding them within our curriculum. Even in this privileged atmosphere, I have seen the price some of my friends from less fortunate backgrounds have had to pay. The administration neglected to realize that some families have no Internet connection in their homes, and thus students were forced to do homework in local libraries everyday. With libraries now closing in Trenton due to budget cuts, these students are frantic, terrified of their grades suffering in this crucial year before college. Instead of alleviating the issue of economic equality by giving out free iPads, this seemingly beneficial decision resulted in increasing the education gap.

Thus, if technology is not the answer, and equally funded school districts cannot be attained overnight, what can we do? One of the biggest differences in the United States’ teaching system and that of other nations is the level of respect and value given to teachers. In Finland, which has a top education system, it is more difficult to get accepted into graduate school for teaching than it is to get into medical or law school; furthermore, every teacher is required to have a Masters degree. On the other hand, according to Fareed Zakaria’s Education Report on CNN, 50% of U.S teachers graduated in the bottom third of their class in college. With lawyers, engineers, and stockbrokers being filtered through so much intense competition, of course teachers are not regarded with the same level of admiration. Why? Who creates all the doctors and writers and congressmen? Teachers do; yet, parents think twice before sending their child to a top college if she wants to be an elementary school teacher, and with valid reason. Withher meager teacher’s salary, she will not be able to pay back the giant loan she will need to study.

There is the problem. I accept the belief that most teachers enter the profession because they have a passion for teaching and not to make money, but passion or not, teachers need to feed their families too. In the 1970s, American education was the world’s envy because we had ambitious women as teachers who knew that teaching was their best option. Now, since women have more choices, of course most flock to fields in which they will actually be able to satisfy a family’s needs. Therefore, we are left with the students who graduate in the bottom of their class and have no better career options teaching the leaders of tomorrow. Clearly, something needs to change. The United States has an education budget of about 972 billion dollars, which is triple the GDP of Finland and almost equivalent to the GDP of SouthKorea, the other leader in education. Using that money, every public school in my proximity constructeda swimming pool, when they easily could have shared one with the school across the street. If moneyis tight, budget cuts should be used to limit the amount of unnecessary facilities, and not to lower thesalaries of hard working teachers. Instead, we should focus on rewarding excellent educators with higher pay so that they are able to bring even more to the classroom, and so that enlightening our children remains a passion, not a chore.

In the end, it all comes down to equality: equality in school districts, equality in resources, and equality in professions. Dr. King had the “audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits,” and I have the audacity to insist that we can achieve his dream by merely looking back to remember what makes this country so special. In America, we are thinkers, innovators, and believers. We are unique in that we nurture a love for learning in everyone from preschoolers to college graduates. If we lose this, we lose our identity. Instead, let us embrace what makes us different, and allow teachers from every background to give our children a thorough education, one that provides a view of many perspectives, and one that empowers them to grow to solve the problems that confound us today. When those problems are solved, however, do not forget the honorable people who helped that happen; remember, they hold more power than anyone. With good teachers, we bloom. With bad teachers, we struggle. In teachers’ hands lies the answer we seek.

Here's the list of all Stuart winners at Princeton University’s ninth annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration on Jan. 16:

Visual Arts Contest Winners, Grades 4-6

• Third Place: Katherine McLaughlin, Grade 6,  Princeton
• Honorable Mention: Alexandra Rounds, Grade 5,  Princeton

Literary and Video Contest Winners, Grades 7-8

• First Place: Rachel Asir, Grade 7 Princeton
• Second Place: Hayley Siegel, Grade 8 Princeton
• Honorable Mention: Chloe Mario, Grade 8 Princeton

Literary and Video Contest Winners, Grades 9-10

• Second Place: Bindu Bansinath, Grade 10 North Brunswick
• Third Place: Vanessa Li, Grade 10 Princeton

Literary and Video Contest Winners, Grades 11-12

• First Place: Christina Chun, Grade 12 West Windsor
• Second Place: Alisha Mehndiratta, Grade 12 Skillman
• Third Place: Christina Zeppenfeld, Grade 11 Trenton
• Honorable Mention: Colleen Baker, Grade 12 West Windsor