Tim Shenk is a lot like other high school kids his age. He likes baseball, loves to play piano, and can talk about the latest bands most of us over 18 have never heard of. But Shenk also has parlayed an interest in world politics and peacemaking to secure an all expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. and a $5,000 award that will help defray his college expenses - and learned a powerful lesson about solving international crisis in the process.

Shenk was the winner of the 1998 United States Institute of Peace Essay Contest, just one of the tools used by the congressionally funded agency to draw attention to global issues and the importance of negotiating peaceful solutions to the world's problems.

Founded by Congress in 1984 the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) is an independent, non-partisan organization, insulated from political pressures. USIP is mandated to promote and strengthen the nation's capacity to solve international conflicts through peaceful means, and does this in a number of ways. It trains international leaders and diplomats in conflict resolution and negotiating skills, including some of the leaders who recently gathered in Ramboullet, France in an attempt to end the crisis in Kosovo. The Institute also provides more than 90 grants each year, with an average value of $38,000, to organizations and individuals whose work is consistent with the mission of USIP. Each year, the Institute also brings 8 to 15 policy experts, journalists, and professors to Washington, where they work on independent projects but also lend their knowledge and experience toward solving the world's problems, often participating in seminars and workshops with top government officials. If there is a theme that encompasses all of the work done at USIP it is education. The goal, whether working with world leaders or high school students, is to bring knowledge and the promise of a peaceful solution to crisis situations: to understand that common ground can be found in the most uncommon of places, and that a commitment to finding lasting answers to tough international challenges is not impossible, but does require communication, diplomacy, and patience.

The annual Peace Essay Contest is a perfect example. Each year, hundreds of high school students, many of them with the aid of their teachers using USIP crafted social studies curriculum guides, attempt to address a real public policy question in 1,500 words or less. This year's contest topic is preventing violent international conflict. Would-be winners must ask themselves tough questions to be successful.

What is the role of the United States in the increasingly complex international community? How do we best promote respect for human rights and the growth of freedom and justice? What can we as a nation do to nurture and preserve international security and world peace? Pondering such issues is serious business, as USIP Executive Vice President Dr. Harriet Hentges knows.

"We're trying to challenge the youth of today to not just be deep thinkers but global thinkers. The world today continues to come to us, through the Internet on the desktop and through cable television, for example. The adults of tomorrow need to recognize the role of the United States in such a rapidly changing political landscape. The contest is one way to engage students to do this."

A panel of judges selects a winner from each state and U.S. territory and those lucky scholars win $1,000 college scholarships and a trip to the Nation's Capital. There, they spend a week immersed in the policy process, meeting top administration officials and their representatives in Congress. Foreign ambassadors also are on the agenda, depending on the year's subject matter. (This year's emissaries are from Ethiopia and Eritrea.) A few days are devoted entirely to the issues addressed in their essays, with role-playing forcing the students to adopt the perspective of an individual or group. Last year's national contest winner, Tim Shenk of Virginia, found the simulation enlightening, but difficult. "I learned a lot about the history of the conflict . . .and how to argue my position with others. But now I also realize how frustrating it is to argue with people who have an agenda," he said.

The capstone of the week's activities is the awarding of the national contest winner, which this year will increase to $10,000. Second- and third-place carry awards of $5,000 and $2,500, respectively. And while the Peace Essay Contest is the most visible of USIP's education efforts, there are others as well.

The Summer Institute for Secondary School Social Studies Teachers is a week-long seminar held in Washington D.C. for 25-30 high school social studies teachers. The seminar is designed to enhance both substantive expertise on international peace, security and conflict management as well as teaching skills and curricula in the areas of war and peace, security, conflict management, and the role of governmental and non-governmental actors in preventive diplomacy, mediation and reconciliation efforts.

Additionally, USIP is bringing the work of peace and conflict resolution to a number of regional locations throughout the country. These workshops are geared to teaching faculty at the college, university, and community college levels. The focus of these two to three day workshops is incorporating conflict studies into the classroom, built around discussions of both substance and pedagogy. The goal of the workshops is to engage the 25-50 participants in: the nature and sources of international conflict in the post-Cold War world; new approaches to managing these conflicts; effective ways to teach about conflict and peacemaking; and research agendas on international conflict management that cut across disciplines and enhance teaching. Workshops are being scheduled for the 99-2000 academic year now; a schedule will be posted on the USIP website.

As the Institute expands its educational mission to make its work more accessible to more individuals of all ages, Dr. Hentges sees hope for the future.

"We want to prepare the next generation to deal with the challenges of the coming millennium. The more people who are exposed to the work of peace and conflict resolution, the better and brighter our future becomes."

For more information on the United States Institute of Peace, visit their web site at www.usip.org or call 202-457-1700.