Akins Early College High School teacher and attorney Armin Salek has been awarded the 2020 Rather Prize for his Legal Eagles high school law clinic in Austin. Salek teaches career and technical education criminal justice.
The Rather Prize is a $10,000 cash prize that goes to the student, teacher, or administrator in Texas who provides the best idea to improve Texas Education. The award will help to expand the Legal Eagles program and to serve as a model to other schools in Texas and nationwide.
“My Rather Prize idea is to expand the provision of free legal services on high school campuses and I want to do that by allowing high school students to work on legal cases,” said Salek in the Rather Prize award video. “They’re ready. They’re emotionally intelligent. They’re intellectually capable, and they will give clients the services they deserve. The benefit is two-fold: We’re providing free legal services to the community, and the students are advancing well beyond their years in legal education.”
The Rather Prize initiative was developed in 2016 by Rice University student Martin Rather and his grandfather, journalist Dan Rather.
To read more about the Rather Prize, go to ratherprize.org. To read more about Salek’s Legal Eagles program, go to the Texas Bar Journal.