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Saturday, March 03, 2007

Westporter Named White House Fellow Regional Finalist

Darin McKeever: 1992 Staples grad helps D.C. youngsters. File photoThe White House has named Westport native Darin M. McKeever, a 1992 Staples High School graduate, one of 107 regional finalists for the White House Fellows Program, the nation’s most prestigious program for leadership and public service.

McKeever, 32, is co-founder and executive director of Heads Up Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides after-school and summer programs for elementary school children in the most underserved neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., where he lives.

A White House announcement said this year’s regional finalists come from 29 states, as well as the District of Columbia. McKeever is one of four who listed a hometown in Connecticut.

During March and April, the finalists participate in a rigorous interview process that will result in approximately 30 candidates being named national finalists. 

The President’s Commission on White House Fellowships will interview the national finalists in June and then recommend candidates to President Bush for a one-year appointment as White House Fellows, the announcement said.

McKeever, son of Nancy and Stuart McKeever of Westport, received his bachelor of arts in social studies from Harvard College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

As an undergraduate, he served as the director of a student-run after-school program for at-risk youth in Boston. He was a recipient of the Stride Rite Community Service Fellowship in 1997 and is a former Echoing Green Foundation fellow. He is also a member of the Leadership Washington class of 2002.

The White House Fellows Program, a nonpartisan program founded in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, offers exceptional young men and women first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. 

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As a student at Staples H.S., Darin displayed a social consciousness unusual in a teen. He was able to turn his vision for an improved society into the reality of Heads Up, a reading program in the Washington, D.D. schools.. In doing so Darin has changed the lives of thousands of students by providing a path to higher education. We can honor our hometown hero by going on-line and making a donation To Heads Up

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