In 1998, Blair Hornstine, an otherwise normal teenager, was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition that took away her energy and prevented her from attending high school. Ms. Hornstine was granted the privilege of receiving home school according to the strict rules and regulations of her high school, Moorestown High. A Special Education Team was assigned to provide her with the necessary tools she needed to succeed at home academically. Ms. Hornstine was able to attain extraordinarily high marks in all of her classes and was to receive the high honor of being valedictorian at her graduation in 2003.
Ms. Hornstine’s GPA was 4.6894-the highest GPA of her class of over 350 students-and as a result should have been the sole recipient of the valedictorian award. However, the school superintendent felt her fellow student should have been in the running for the award as well, due to his near-perfect GPA. Although his was lower than Ms. Hornstine’s, he felt he did not receive fair consideration due to the fact that he was required to take gym (a class that did not allow for extra grade points) and she was not.
Hornstine and her family filed a lawsuit against the Moorestown Board of Education and the superintendent. Eventually, the court ruled in favor of Blair, stating that her exceptional academic performance was not aided in any way by the opportunities she was allowed due to her condition. Ms. Hornstine was named valedictorian of Moorestown High in 2003.
After high school, Ms. Hornstine attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she attained a Master’s Degree in Classical Studies with distinction. She was accepted to Juilliard School where she pursued her dream of practicing singing and music from 2006 to 2007. She is currently studying to become a lawyer at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Hornstine has also participated in many charitable causes, such as having founded MAGIC, an organization dedicated to helping elderly, underprivileged, and poor women.
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Following the example of her mother Linda Hornstine, Blair Hornstine has always been a leader in her community. In 1994, Blair Hornstine joined her brother in forming MAGIC (the Moorestown Alliance for Goodwill and Interest in the Community). Among other laudable accomplishments, MAGIC was responsible for fundraising, organizing, and implementing a large number of projects dedicated to meeting distinct needs facing Moorestown’s local community.
The Moorestown Alliance for Goodwill and Interest in the Community organized positive responses to issues like graffiti vandalism on abandoned warehouses, gaps in literacy programs, and issues related to drugs and violence within the community. The Moorestown Alliance, led by Blair Hornstine and her brother, also addressed issues of beautification. MAGIC was responsible for helping build playgrounds, planting flowers and trees in public parks, and assisting in vital renovation projects. MAGIC even helped individuals as far away as the People’s Republic of China. Through their organization’s affiliation with The Smile Train, Blair Hornstine helped gather enough contributions to fund 16 cleft lip and palate operations for underprivileged Chinese girls.
Today, Blair Hornstine continues to hold leadership positions in her community and is enroute to receive her Juris Doctorate in May 2010 with hopes to pursue a career in public interest law.
In 1998, Blair Hornstine, an otherwise normal teenager, was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition that took away her energy and prevented her from attending high school. Ms. Hornstine was granted the privilege of receiving home school according to the strict rules and regulations of her high school, Moorestown High. A Special Education Team was assigned to provide her with the necessary tools she needed to succeed at home academically. Ms. Hornstine was able to attain extraordinarily high marks in all of her classes and was to receive the high honor of being valedictorian at her graduation in 2003.
Ms. Hornstine’s GPA was 4.6894-the highest GPA of her class of over 350 students-and as a result should have been the sole recipient of the valedictorian award. However, the school superintendent felt her fellow student should have been in the running for the award as well, due to his near-perfect GPA. Although his was lower than Ms. Hornstine’s, he felt he did not receive fair consideration due to the fact that he was required to take gym (a class that did not allow for extra grade points) and she was not.
Hornstine and her family filed a lawsuit against the Moorestown Board of Education and the superintendent. Eventually, the court ruled in favor of Blair, stating that her exceptional academic performance was not aided in any way by the opportunities she was allowed due to her condition. Ms. Hornstine was named valedictorian of Moorestown High in 2003.
After high school, Ms. Hornstine attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she attained a Master’s Degree in Classical Studies with distinction. She was accepted to Juilliard School where she pursued her dream of practicing singing and music from 2006 to 2007. She is currently studying to become a lawyer. Hornstine has also participated in many charitable causes, such as having founded MAGIC, an organization dedicated to helping elderly, underprivileged, and poor women.
