By generously sharing his story of vulnerability, Juan allows other high school students a chance to open up about their own vulnerabilities and find connections. He is a positive role model to the more than 500 Anchorage high school students who have watched his story.
As part of the Lead On program, youth from around the state met in Anchorage to build skills and develop projects they could implement in their communities to prevent violence and build pride and resilience.
Chance graduated from high school this year with two associates degrees, Associate of Science and Associate of Arts General Program with Cum Laude Honors. He also applied and received a grant to start a dance group in his village.
Aunika began #Hashtaglunchbag in Anchorage. She organizes youth and adults to gather and prepare lunches for the homeless in Anchorage.
Rafael displays intelligence and leadership skills beyond his years. His strong inner drive has resulted in an academically, emotionally and socially intelligent young man. He is the owner and director of the Crepe Escape, a food booth in Kodiak. He donates 10 percent of Crepe Escape’s profits to the Brother Francis Shelter.
Vanessa has many leadership qualities. She is creative in her ideas to solve problems in her community, she is self-motivated , dedicated, and hard working. Vanessa organized, planned, and implemented the first homeschool prom in May of 2017. She was able to secure a facility, delegate duties to the other student volunteers, and held cookie sales and other fundraisers to make it all come together. It was a huge success with over 40 homeschool students participating.
Hannah is a member of the North Star Youth Court where she serves as Defense Attorney, Board Member and Judge. She always seeks to find the best way to affect a positive outcome for the youth court clients. She takes her work seriously and is a positive role model to the new up and coming attorneys, who look up to her.
Carol is a member of the Future Problem Solving Program, North Star Youth Court, Girl Scouts, Be [You] Team and Barnette Middle School’s Mediators. In all her roles she seeks to bring about a better future for her peers and her community.
Sierra is a leader among her peers. She is co-captain of rifle club, does fencing, was a host for Japanese student exchange, honor society, has a 4.1 GPA and is in the Japanese honor society. She is vice president of youth court, was elected this year as a student mentor at Lathrop high school, and is involved in after school art classes.
Gabe decided to transfer to a larger school in order to pursue his passion for science. The move added three hours to his school day. Yet, when he comes home he makes time, through Ninilchik Tribe Teen Center, to work with others to build clubs, programs and places for Ninilchik youth to go for peer support. Miller sees himself as a scientist who wants to study the micro-systems that keep our world running.
Duncan shares his Yup’ik culture with the world every chance he gets. His songs and public speaking heals and strengthens people in his village. He has spoken and sang at numerous conferences. He is also involved in three different dance groups and is the leader of one of them. Additionally, he performs at his school, instilling pride in his peers and is a great role model for the young people of his village.
Anonymous Teen (AT) has volunteered over 200 hours over the past at an organization providing direct services for other teens. AT is gender queer and noticed that a lot of the paperwork and forms at the organization were not gender inclusive and asked to update the materials. It took courage to call out adults and help them to do better for the next teen who walks in the door.
Katelyn joined the True North Church YTH group this fall. Her personality is loving and accepting. Most students that attend the local boarding house also come from villages and many tend to struggle with their grades and learning how to study. Katelyn is a prime example of a hard worker, and good example for her peers.
Avery is involved in school’s state-winning Science Olympiad team. She traveled with the team to nationals in May. She is diligent inside and outside of class, she is also kind and respectful to everyone, teachers and students.
Greg had some great personal and family situations this year that really affected him. He did his best to rise above them and do his best at school. He is an outgoing young man with a great sense of humor.
Sarah Churchill is an engaging and active youth in our Matanuska Valley community. Her youth led passion for service addresses some of the most common needs in her community. Across Alaska animals are abandoned and abused. Sarah works in small, powerful ways to combat animal abuse and neglect and to built positive relationships for animals and for the people who adopt them.
Women of West is a group of young women who are or want to be leaders in their school and community. The past 2 years, they have been very interested in raising awareness about domestic violence with an emphasis on teen dating violence. Their work is aiming to prevent this violence from happening by educating their peers about the warning signs of dating violence.
Erika and Hailey are part of a peer partnership. They are role models and advocates for students with intensive special needs. They assist in being role-models for students with intensive special needs, and raise awareness of special needs of individuals and how to include them in the community as valuable partners.
Emma volunteered to help coach 6th grade girls basketball this year. She took the initiative to volunteer her time after school for six weeks in order to help. She was an excellent role model and went above and beyond teaching our players.
Isabelle helped coach 6th grade girls basketball this year at Colony Middle School. She came to every practice and every game. She was positive and respectful throughout the entire season and the girls truly look up to her.
