Shawn is an active member of his church and mentors children age 3-16. He volunteers with Wasilla’s MyHouse, a homeless youth program and has dedicated countless hours to service within his community. Shawn’s kindness, strong work ethic and integrity makes him a role model to his peers.
Caleb is an invaluable assistant to his brother’s non-profit, Kindness for Kids, which creates and distributes small pillows for hospitalized children across the U.S. He helps every step of the way from transporting supplies to sewing and stuffing pillows. He has also participated in several service projects with his scout troop.
Destyne participates in the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s culture camp, where she has helped in conducting mapping and research on archaeological sites in the Kenai area. She is a leader and mentor to the other campers and loves to work with the Tribe’s Tyotkas Elder Program. Destyne bridges a generational knowledge gap between elders and youth.
Allison and Ariana worked to provide specially designed grocery carts for Sitka’s grocery stores. These carts allow families who would normally need to navigate through the store pushing a wheelchair and a shopping cart the freedom to safely transport their child through the store in a cart.
Logan is part of a pregnancy prevention program, where he shares information with his peers to help decrease the risk of teen pregnancies. Throughout his two years of involvement he has shared ideas and feedback to help his peers and peer educators.
Sophie is the leader of the Pregnancy Prevention Program at Colony High. She shares information with her peers to help decrease the risk of teen pregnancies and increase awareness around STDs, domestic violence and effects of drug and alcohol use.
Meryem was chair of Fairbanks Youth Advocates’ fundraising event “One Homeless Night,” where community members built cardboard shelters and spent the night outside in order to raise awareness around homelessness.
Dougie volunteers with Holland America, Princess Tours and the Student Conservation Association. He helps homeless people by giving them clothes and always puts others before himself.
Analicia Castaneda, Korbyn Powers, Deanna Hobbs, Justin Sleppy, Addisohn Jones, Calvin Zuelow were central in creating a digital story promoting healthy relationships, healthy sexuality, and nonviolence. They led interviews, edited footage and put together the final production.
Keahi led a Teen Buckle Up campaign at his school. He created banners,posters and a mascot; composed a buckle-up jingle and inspired a diverse group of students to spread the word about seat belt safety. Keahi went above the required activities of the campaign by bringing heightened awareness of teen driving concerns to students through peer to peer outreach.
Jessika teaches youth in her community traditional skills such as skin sewing and game processing. She also was integral in organizing a youth softball program in Kotzebue. Jessika is proud to represent her region and makes sure the youth voice of her community is heard statewide.
Reanna is on the Alaska Association of Student Governments Executive Board and is highly involved in student government. She has led events at her high school to help create a healthier environment and has created leadership conferences that involves all the students in her town.
Travis is devoted to serving his community. He is part of the group Students of Kodiak Island Learning to Lead, which went to Hawaii this past May for World Indigenous Conference on Education. Travis also helps the elders of Akhiok with everything from butchering subsistence food to pumping their heating fuel.
Stephen created a web-based voting registration app for Alaska voters. His app allows Alaskans to easily register to vote, request an absentee ballot or update their voter registration information from any computer or smart phone in the world. Hundreds of Alaskans have used his website to register. Stephen hopes that his tool will inspire young Alaskans to be active participants in democracy.
Jasmine is a self-initiated Filipino ambassador at her school. She helps new students learn the ropes from tutoring them to helping them with social skills. She acts as an interpreter between students and teachers, which is invaluable since her school has no teachers who speak Tagalog. She improves the quality of life for young people who are new to the country.
Jenna raises reindeer and brings them to educational and fundraising events. She and her reindeer have raised thousands of dollars to help homeless youth in the Kenai area from ringing the bell for Salvation Army to offering reindeer photo shoots to the public. Jenna also visits classrooms to teach students about reindeer.
Elliott volunteered with UAA’s STEM-based summer camps for middle and high school students. He assisted students with robot design, construction, programming and testing. In addition to his countless hours planning curriculum and setting up sessions he was also a mentor to the campers and inspired them to continue their interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
Brooke Estes, Jerry Swanson, Mathew Moore and Rachel Tougas helped create a 12-episode DVD series about the history of the Eastern Kenai Peninsula. They volunteered countless hours narrating and composing music for the series and made history come alive for hundreds of children who will have access to it.
Gerrit invented an ozone water treatment system for his school’s science symposium. He then developed it into a product that could provide clean, safe water in developing countries. He hopes to develop his O3 System as a humanitarian product as well as a consumer product.
Kathryn is a member of the Governor’s Statewide Suicide Prevention Council and is a leader in Anchorage for educating peers about recognizing the warning signs of suicide and how to get help. She has led talks with Anchorage School District students and helped organize a peer training at the Boys and Girls Club. She encourages others to not sit by while a peer struggles with life, but to stand up and do something about it.
