The faculty at Rich South (Illinois) High School usually selects a senior as Outstanding Journalist, but Martine Caverl earned this prestigious award as a junior, the same year she received the Xerox Social Studios Award and was voted an Outstanding Student by the faculty. As a senior, Martine was named Outstanding Language Arts Student and given the Outstanding Literary Magazine Award. Her AP English teacher was so impressed with her literary skills that she found herself “checking and discussing titles and reading with Martine more than with any other English teachers.” Not surprisingly, Martine scored a perfect 800 on the Verbal section of the SAT.

In a high school community with significant racial tension, Martine devoted many hours to Fusion, a mobile performing arts group. Through skits, verses, and monologues, Fusion works to eliminate prejudice. Martine also volunteered at Aunt Martha’s Youth Services as a “liner” on the National Runaway Switchboard. Her idea for a free community art studio for teens, which became a reality during the summer before her senior year, was an outgrowth of her work at Aunt Martha’s.

A National Achievement Commended Scholar, Martine attends NYU where she is majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Africana Studies and Politics.