Last year he was the lone sophomore on the all-senior team that placed second in the regional Knowledge Bowl and represented the area at the state meet.

This year he will lead Pequot Lakes team as it conquers a full range of academic subjects - academic honors from the district.

One of four children of John Sr. and Joyce Leitner of Nisswa, young Leitner, along with a few other classmates who have achieved academic perfection so far, is ranked Number 1 in the junior class. He has never earned less than an A for his course work.

As a golf course employee at Breezy Point Resort this summer, however, he began to master something a little less visible but equally important:

"The high point of my job," he says, "was not the skills I acquired, but rather the chance to learn the work ethic and take responsibility."

But Leitner came well-equipped for the rigors of cleaning and parking golf carts. He credits his parents with getting him started in the right direction and his academic peers for helping him stay the course.

Leitner says he is still exploring his college choices and is considering the law as a future profession. "But I'm keeping my options open, and engineering seems more interesting to me right now."

In the meantime he will concentrate on participating in cross country this fall and speech competition in the winter. Last year he shone in the original oratory category in which he argued that "biological warfare presents the greatest threat to the security of the United States." This year he will compete in extemporaneous speaking.

Okay, Mr. Leitner, in 30 seconds give us your extemporaneous position on construction of a new hotel at Breezy Point Resort. So he did:

"In this country we have always tried to find a compromise between that of progress and that of preservation. As Americans, we feel that the preservation of our heritage, our traditions, our culture and our natural resources are very important.

"But we also realize that in this competitive age local communities must understand that they must try to advance and sometimes put progress ahead of preservation. The new hotel would change the makeup of the community but would spur further economic growth."