First published on the Baton Rouge Parents magazine website and its October 2020 print issue.
This summer, Baton Rouge area teens spoke out against racial injustice and said Black lives matter, organizing a peaceful protest downtown. Colleen Noelle Temple, a senior at University Lab School, was one organizer.
“I was just tired of sitting at home and seeing a new name almost every week, sometimes every day,” she says. “I wanted to get outside and just make my voice heard. I am not OK with this and a lot of people aren’t OK with it. We want the government and everybody to know that something needs to change.”
An award-winning, two-sport athlete, Colleen has earned spots on the All-District and All-Metro volleyball teams and honorable mention for the All-District basketball team. This summer, she received an Honorary ESPY award from the local ESPN radio station for her athletic and community service accomplishments.
Colleen’s athletic career started just before middle school. “I went to an LSU volleyball camp the summer before sixth grade,” she says. “That was my first time, and I just fell in love with it from there.”
As an active community member, Colleen volunteers with holiday food giveaways, the Walls Project, and upkeep of the historic Magnolia Cemetery. She is also an honor student and serves on her school’s diversity and inclusion committee.
After graduation next spring, Colleen will head to college to study pre-law. “Over the summer, I committed to the University of Hawaii to play volleyball,” she says.
With athletic, academic and civic accomplishments, Colleen is certainly one amazing kid.