Spirit of Youth

Zoe, is one of four teens who were inspired to take action due to their personal experiences with climate change in their communities.  In their resolution they wrote about the severe impacts climate change is having on Indigenous ways of life and the spiritual and cultural well-being of Alaska Native communities. Their resolution declares a climate emergency and creates a climate action leadership task force to advance Indigenous voices and advocate for strong climate policies that will ensure the survival of future generations.

• Home Town Nome
• School District Nome
• Award Category Discovery

Quannah, is one of four teens who were inspired to take action due to their personal experiences with climate change in their communities.  In their resolution they wrote about the severe impacts climate change is having on Indigenous ways of life and the spiritual and cultural well-being of Alaska Native communities. Their resolution declares a climate emergency and creates a climate action leadership task force to advance Indigenous voices and advocate for strong climate policies that will ensure the survival of future generations.

• Home Town
• School District Charter School
• Award Category Discovery

Adrian has been an active volunteer at Stone Soup Group for several years. In addition to helping out around the office, he is the youth leader for SSG’s Bullying Prevention work, and has helped in the re-design of the Souper Gaming Night activity. Adrian continues to volunteer for SSG each month by charging all of the gaming equipment, setting up the space and modeling social skills for other attendees.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Phoenix, Role Model

Django has gone out of his way to take on responsibilities and does so with a positive attitude. He helped create a bullying prevention video for Stone Soup Group, has volunteered for a gaming night, and assists youth with special abilities.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Role Model

Shaelene has had a turbulent upbringing, but despite everything she’s been through, she has remained resilient. Throughout her experiences, she has stayed positive. She continues to keep in contact with her friends and family back home, and is part of a group of young teens where she shares her story and provides them with resources.

• Home Town Sterling
• School District Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
• Award Category Phoenix

Geneva is a member of her student government, captain of her debate team, and has helped pass a resolution to support a Tagalog class in the Anchorage School District. When funding failed from ASD, she looked for opportunities in the Anchorage Assembly to figure out alternatives to a Tagalog class. She also joined the Alaska Young Democrats as well as the Municipality Youth Advisory Commission, and has helped volunteer and bring her peers to local political events.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Dreamer, Role Model

Colvin was a member of our local Boys & Girls Club from ages 9-14. At age 12 he began volunteering as a cook’s assistant. At age 14 he was hired as a Junior Staff. He is responsible for designing and executing programs (craft, gym, homework) for kids in Kindergarten and 1st grade. He works 20 per week as a youth development professional, maintains excellent grades, is involved with his church youth group and plays for a local high school basketball team.

• Home Town Kasilof
• School District

Garrett has demonstrated courage, resilience, and fortitude as he faces challenging personal difficulties. In June of 2018, he formed a team called “Garrett’s Got Guts” which participated in the Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis fundraising event. He has taken action to educate himself, his classmates, and his community members about genetic disorders with both humor and sincerity.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Humanitarian

Candace planned service projects to revamp the playground area. She made it look better, but her main focus was on safety. The entire community was very grateful for her efforts. She volunteers at the community hall every night to support everyone with pool, ping-pong, mini-basketball, foosball, and  make it a safe place to socialize.

• Home Town Chignik Bay
• School District Lake and Peninsula School District

Elora is changing peoples’ lives and shaping the kind of community we all live in. In order to alleviate isolation among senior citizens she created a traveling petting zoo at a senior living home in her community. Elora has also gathered a significant amount of supplies for the local food bank as well as built and stocked the Nikiski Food Pantry. Elora serves on several youth boards including the 4-H District Council Board, North Road Rangers, and Junior Market Livestock Board.

• Home Town Nikiski
• School District Kenai Peninsula School District

Blaine McElligott worked with staff at Catholic Social Services and Clare House to create, install, and fill a lending library at Clare House. Blaine also volunteers regularly at St. Francis Food Pantry, often bringing peers and friends with him.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Humanitarian, Role Model

Jessica Yang serves as a youth influencer on a national learning network project of Alaska Community Mental Healthy Services, Alaska Seeds of Change, Alaska Youth Advocates as they work to develop services for youth that are easily accessible and lead to positive outcomes. She is also a part of Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling (MHATS), an organization that aims to reduce the stigma around mental illness and open conversations about mental health through storytelling. The group is advocating for state legislation that would require mental health education in schools.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Dreamer, Role Model

Zoe Kaplan is part of Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling (MHATS), an organization that aims to reduce the stigma around mental illness and open conversations about mental health through storytelling. MHATS is advocating for state legislation that would require mental health education in schools. Zoe uses her personal struggle with physical illness and depression to help break down the stigma of talking about mental health.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Dreamer, Role Model

For the past two years, Jayshawn Hudson has been actively involved in Link Crew, a program at Bartlett High School that partners upperclassmen with incoming freshmen. As a crew mentor, Jayshawn maintains personal mentoring relationships with the members of his crew. He is a patient teacher and is always focused on supporting student growth.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Role Model

Ben is co-leading a coin drive to raise money that will go to support both the animal shelter and children with cancer in our community. He also helped to present and lead a drive to collect feminine hygiene products for the school district.

• Home Town Wasilla
• School District Matanuska Susitna Borough School District

Katie is involved in a variety of volunteer opportunities. She volunteers as a math tutor twice a week. She founded and is a co-teacher for an after school guitar club once a week.  She is also active in her schools Volunteer Club which has worked with Mobile Medics, The Salvation Army, and the Food Bank of Alaska. Outside of school Katie is the volunteer live sound engineer at Under 21 Open Mic, where she has also shares her talents as a singer/songwriter. She performs annually at the Anchorage Folk Festival and teaches a beginner guitar workshop for kids.

• Home Town Anchorage
• School District Anchorage School District

Grace raises hundreds annually for The Door Youth Shelter fundraiser “One Homeless Night” where she builds a box city and spends the night outside. She is her school’s co-anchor for the Hawk Hit News and is highly involved in the Arts Audiovisual program. She won the state National History Day competition for her research on Alaska Native boarding school history and traveled to Maryland to compete nationally with the project. She also helped start a youth group on a remote island in Iceland for three months and served in the Children’s and Youth ministry in the Philippines and Mexico.

• Home Town Fairbanks
• School District Fairbanks Northstar Borough School District
• Award Category Humanitarian

When anyone needs help at his school, Joachim is the first student for the job. He lends a helping hand on a daily basis to his classroom peers and to the younger members of his student body. Beyond the classroom and the school property, he is readily available and interested in helping those in our small community with a variety of tasks. He counsels friends with troubles they may be experiencing.

• Home Town Eagle River
• School District Private School
• Award Category Role Model

Ali moved from out of state and quietly joined the student body and has done a remarkable job fitting in, like she was here from the start. Ali has moved frequently because she comes from a Navy family. She has become a role model and leader for the student body. Ali is one of the first to stick up for a student or come to their defense. She helps struggling peers with their questions and mentors others.

• Home Town Eagle River
• School District Private School
• Award Category Role Model

Trailmen ages 6-17 from Trail Life Troop AK-0226 conducted several service projects this past year, including serving Veterans at the State Veteran’s Day ceremony, helping reorganize a storage unit for the Pregnancy Resource Center in Eagle River, as well as preparing Thanksgiving meals for the needy as part of the Thanksgiving Blessing in Anchorage.

• Home Town Eagle River
• School District Anchorage School District
• Award Category Humanitarian