Teen of the week: On the go student keeps busy | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

"Patience," the 15-year-old said. "They like to get off track so much. They talk about their friends. They talk about their families. They talk about everything except what we're supposed to be talking about."

But aside from that, Kara, a sophomore at Chesapeake High School, said she loves working with the third- and fourth-graders at Sunset Elementary. The school was looking to start a foreign language club, and Sunset's guidance counselor, Jan Dineen, asked Kara, whose mother, Lorene Carpenter, works as the school secretary.

"The students love working with her," Ms. Dineen said. "Each week they willingly stay after for tutoring and enthusiastically meet in the French club."

Kara has been taking French since sixth grade and called it "a very cool language."

"I like how smooth the language is," said Kara, who is considering going to France with other French students from Chesapeake when she's a senior.

She teaches the Sunset students the basics of the language, such as words for parts of the body and colors.

"They have fun with it. I teach them different games and dances," Kara said.

She meets with the six students in the French club on Wednesdays. On Mondays, she tutors other students in math.

Every fall, Sunset puts on a Reading Rocks Concert to encourage students to read more. Kara sang in the concert and also revised lyrics for a Sunset version of the Queen classic "We Will Rock You."

That would be enough to keep most teens busy, but Kara has plenty of other activities on her schedule as well.

"Kara is a well-rounded, focused high school student, which makes her an excellent model for our elementary students," Ms. Dineen said.

An active member of Chesapeake's drama club, she's had roles in the school's productions of "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Oklahoma." In the latter, she even had a singing role.

"It's like one big family," Kara said of drama club. "It's cool because when you're up on stage, you're not portraying yourself. You're portraying someone else."

She also plays piano and is in the Chesapeake High chorus, and she is also a member of the color guard, the school's flag-twirling ensemble. She is also an entertainment writer for the school newspaper, Paw Prints.

Despite the fact that she has "practically no time," Kara also plays intramural softball and volunteers several times each month at the Animal Rescue Foundation on Kent Island, where her aunt and cousin live.

It's a busy lifestyle, she acknowledges.

"I'm very dedicated, and I think that comes from my mom," Kara said. "She raised me, my brother and my sister as a single mom, and she was able to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. She never gives up."

Getting choked up at her daughter's words, Ms. Carpenter said her "perfectionist" daughter has always been highly motivated.

"She's got that go in her," said Ms. Carpenter, adding that Kara is also trying to get a summer job with the county's Recreation and Parks Department. "All my kids are like that. They do their school work, then they play. That's just their attitude."

Though college is a few years off, Kara said she is looking at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Villa Julie College. She said she wants to pursue a career in science and dreams of becoming either an anthropologist or a forensic scientist.

Her goals for the next few years are simple: Become fluent in French and keep up her good grades.

She said she looks up to her sister, Kristal, 21, and brother Marty, 20, because both have taught her the importance of having a positive attitude.

"They don't let anything get them down," she said.