None us knows who the next president will be, but with any luck, a Crosswell Elementary School 5th grader will watch him be inauguarted.
Well luck and some money.
Jordan Reed and her family are trying to raise money to help the her accept an invitation to a leadership program that will allow her to study governmental practices, the electoral process and how laws are made.
Along the way, she’ll have the opportunity to meet former First Lady Laura and her daughter Jenna Bush.
The opportunity follows a summertime leadership leadership program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill called the National Young Scholars program.
Jordan was nominated for that expeience by her 4th grade teacher Melanie Johnson. Johnson reguarly nominates students who have potential to be accepted to the program, but Jordan was the first to attend from this area.
At the session at Chapel Hill, Jordan said she studied CSI, medicine and engineering and was involved in daily leadership and team-building exercises.
She was most interested in CSI techniques in which they studied some of the science used by criminal investigators. She did a blood test and a group did a role playing exercise to study how each character in a criminal investigation might act.
She seemed to like the scinece most and enjoyed the medical study. Combining engineering and medicine for a career intrigues her, she said.
Leadership is a characteristic that stands out in Jordan said 4th grade teacher Johnson and Crosswell school Principal Traci Boyles. If she is in a group, students look to her to help with the answers to a task, Boyles said. “Even when she is assigned a role that is not for a leader the students turn to her for answers,” Boyles said. “Jordan stands out in leadership and the way she carries herself and the way she speaks,” Boyles said.
One thing that has helped her be the way she is is her family’s suport and involment, Boyles said.
Johnson sees that and something else that she describes as “an internal motivation” that helps Jordan shine as a student.
Cost of the trip is between $3,500 and $4,000 says Jordan’s grandmother, Janice Simpson, who funded the Chapel Hill trip. She is seeking the help of area businesses that might help defray costs.
The Crosswell Elementary PTA facilitating fundraising for the effort, said Simpson. Checks can be made to Crosswell Elementary School PTA, Special Projects, Jordan Reed, 161 School Road, Easley, SC 29642.



















