City Lights:

This is the best of high school, right here.

American secondary education took another black eye recently with the death of Phoebe Prince, the Massachusetts teenager who hanged herself after months of alleged bullying by classmates. With Massachusetts and other states weighing anti-bullying legislation, it’s easy to forget how tolerant and supportive teenagers can be.

But we have a perfect example at Marina High School, where the senior class is preparing for its second annual Seniors Give Back rally to cheer on underclassmen taking standardized tests.

I would guess that the thing everyone remembers least about high school is taking those tests — in this case, the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exams, which determine whether students have made adequate progress in English, math, science and history. Students in the second through 11th grades take the tests, and if my memory serves me well, they’re somewhat less exciting than homecoming.

Still, the tests are important, especially because, under No Child Left Behind, they keep a school in good standing with the government. So Marina’s seniors last year embarked on a two-part mission: to encourage their younger classmates to ace the exams, and to leaven the boredom of those test-taking days.

For four days in May, the graduating class stood outside Marina and welcomed freshmen, sophomores and juniors, offering high-fives and making spirit tunnels, even passing out snacks. The student body put on a “Star Wars” skit in the gym in which students correctly answered test questions and blew up enemy ships representing the other five schools in the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

“Our senior class came to us and said, ‘We don’t take the STAR tests, but we’d like to get involved,’” said Assistant Principal Ben Dale. “They had gotten the fever.”

This time, the theme is “Starvivor,” modeled after the reality show “Survivor.” Test-takers will wear bandannas in the style of the show, and the student body has a pair of rallies scheduled for Monday — complete with a skit in which the other schools get voted off until Marina triumphs. As far as the organizers are concerned, competition never hurts.

“We want to be the best school in the district,” said senior class president Trevor Hatchard.

“We are already the top school in the district,” added Julie Haduong, who co-chairs the rallies. “We just want the numbers to prove it.”

I wish them luck with that. But numbers or not, Marina’s seniors get high marks for community spirit. And if they’re able to make STAR testing fun, they get marks for ingenuity too.

City Editor MICHAEL MILLER can be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected] .