Students at Agassi Prep weigh in on current events following Tucson tragedy

By Dylan Scott

Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 | 1 p.m.

RELATED STORY: Local students weigh in on current events following Tucson tragedy

It's been a month since the horrific shooting in Tucson that left six people dead and 13 wounded. Among the injured was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head but is recovering.

The shooting's youngest victim was 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green. In a speech, President Barack Obama called for national harmony and eulogized Christina along with the other shooting victims.

Christina "showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age," Obama said. "I want to live up to her expectations, I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it, I want America to be as good as Christina imagined it."

As the nation continues to reflect on what happened, the Sun wanted to know what young people in our community are thinking about the future of America.

Their responses to the Sun's questions are condensed and edited for clarity.

Responses from students at Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy are below. To read responses from other students around the valley, click here.

***

MaShayla Ennis, a senior and student body president at Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas.

Why do you think it's important for people your age to be engaged with government?

What the government can teach us is that history tends to repeat itself and, although we're not old enough to vote, we can learn from the mistakes of our parents and those who are older than us. That way, we can reshape our country and make things better. It's also important to be involved because, whether we realize it or not, our community is what raises us and teaches us how to be leaders. So we should want to give back so we can continue to bring out strong leaders from our community.

I'Jon McCoy is a senior and president of the Omega Gentleman's Club at Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy.

Where does your motivation for getting involved come from?

My inspiration would have to be my mom. She always told me to be a great leader. I came to the conclusion that you can't be a great leader sitting on your couch. So I thought I should get up, take initiative in my actions and become a great leader in my community.