Taking on more global issues, the club members paid tuition so a girl in Afghanistan could attend school, and is having a fund-raiser to aid tsunami victims.

El-Dakhakhni, a member of Interact since her freshman year, said, "It's just really nice to help people, and not only that, but it's one of the only avenues at my school where you can actually see the results of helping people."

Unlike a book or canned food drive, the Interact Club's activities allow members to meet the people they are helping. "It's really rewarding to see that you made a difference," she said.

El-Dakhakhni's commitment to service has taken her out of the country to help others.

"This past October I traveled to Ethiopia with my dad to join a joint Rotary-United Nations effort to eradicate polio worldwide by the end of 2005," she said. "It was by far the most amazing experience I've had."

El-Dakhakhni also participates in several other school activities. Not only has she been class president for the past three years, she also is the co-editor of the yearbook, as well as the school's foreign language magazine, "Passport."

She has been a member of the National Honor Society since her freshman year.

While La Pietra does not have a school paper, El-Dakhakhni has been able to develop her journalism skills, publishing an opinion piece in The Advertiser and writing for El Masry El Dawlia, "The Egyptian International." She said annual trips to Egypt to visit family have helped make her almost fluent in Arabic.

This is the first year of high school that El-Dakhakhni has not paddled for the school team. She recently completed her college applications, hopes to attend a school on the East Coast and is considering law school.

El-Dakhakhni said her father, a businessman, has inspired her to adopt such a busy lifestyle.

"I have always done that," she said. "When I came to La Pietra in the sixth grade, I just started getting involved in everything and adding things on."

Who helped you? "Probably my parents by just supporting me. I drive now, but I know it must have been hard for them driving me to random places because I had something to do for school."

What advice would you give to other kids who want to follow your example? "Talk to teachers because teachers always know where the opportunities are within a school community," she said.