Spirit of Youth

Sheryl Swarner

Sheryl was recently involved in saving the lives of three teenagers. She was instrumental in the retrieval of the teenagers and taking action prior to when the paramedics arrived. Due to her quick actions and directions, the outcome of the event was not tragic.

Chugiak Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company, Inc. Juniors

The CVFRD Juniors are a group of motivated, dedicated, and community-minded youth who meet weekly for medical/firefighting/rescue/emergency response training. These youth are spending their personal time to obtain training in emergency response, and some are going so far as to become active responders to emergencies in the Chugiak community. They conduct themselves in a professional […]

Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America – Juneau Chapter

Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (SDA) was created by and for teens and young adults, to help engage the power, energy and creativity of high school and college students in the fight against gun violence. The members have organized activities and events in their community to help spread the word about gun […]

Matt Davis

Matt Davis and Jared Heaston saw a woman get hit by a vehicle and she projected six feet. They rushed to help her, and performed CPR and all life saving efforts prior to the arrival of the paramedics. They have shared their story with students and the community and they advocate for safe driving and […]

Karen Fortenberry

Karen offers insight to counselors and other adults when dealing with at-risk teens. She also applied and was selected to be on the local QPR team as well as the school leadership team.

No More Mat-Su

No More Mat-Su is a youth-led organization whose goal is to end domestic violence and sexual assault in the Mat-Su Valley. NMMS is in its 5th and last year, students organized an event at the Glenn Massey Theater called Rock the Resilience. They are currently working on the second annual Rock the Resilience.

Jared Heaston & Matt Davis

Matt Davis and Jared Heaston saw a woman get hit by a vehicle. They rushed to help her, performed CPR and all life saving efforts prior to the arrival of the paramedics. The female driver was unable to be saved. They have shared their story with students and the community, while advocating for safe driving […]

Michael Wheatley

Chugiak Fire and Rescue members arrived to find Michael Wheatley home alone valiantly performing CPR on his 18 year-old brother Tristen, with whom he was rough housing just moments before. Michael’s recognition of cardiac arrest, notification of EMS and treatment played a significant role in Tristen’s survival.

Innoko River School Middle and Secondary Students

The Innoko River School middle and secondary students worked together with adults to find a young girl who was missing. This act of heroism and bravery epitomizes a tradition that we have in our village: to never leave anyone behind.

Maddie James

Maddie continues to lead boating safety education community outreach events. Alaska has one of the highest recreational boating fatality rates in the nation and the outreach Maddie does is aimed at educating and addressing the problem.

Emilie Grimes

Will Freeman

In the summer of 2017, 3 people almost perished in Eklutna Lake when their Kayak flipped over. The freezing water gave them hypothermia. Will ran all over the beach to find drift wood and started a fire to keep the victims warm until Emergency Services came. His brave efforts and quick action helped save lives.

Cole Freeman

In the summer of 2017, 3 people almost perished in Eklutna Lake when their Kayak flipped over. The freezing water gave them hypothermia. Cole ran all over the beach to find drift wood and started a fire to keep the victims warm until Emergency Services came. His brave efforts and quick action helped save lives.

Jordan Stewart

In the summer of 2017, 3 people almost perished in Eklutna Lake when their Kayak flipped over. The freezing water gave them hypothermia. Jordan ran all over the beach to find drift wood and started a fire to keep the victims warm until Emergency Services came. His brave efforts and quick action helped save lives.

Henry Saafi

Henry observed a situation escalating into a physical altercation. Without hesitation, he intervened and removed the student from the situation before anyone was injured.

Isaiah Dunegan-Lain

Isaiah was able to utilize his first aid/CPR skills and save a life. In a busy classroom, at lunchtime, he was the only person who observed a student choking on food. Adults and several other students heard the student coughing and then the silence, but they didn’t connect the silence with choking. Isaiah did. He sprang […]

You Are Not Alone Club at West Anchorage High School

The You Are Not Alone club at West High School has been helpful in getting the word out about suicide awareness. They have created student-led presentations and even presented to the faculty at West. The club provides suicide prevention hotline bracelets and clearly explains that just because someone is suicidal once doesn’t mean they will necessarily dip […]

Jullian Parada

Julian does as much as she can to help people realize that they have a reason to live. She has helped many people with problems that range from being sad to being suicidal. She keeps them talking to make sure they’re safe and, on occasions when it gets serious, she will contact parents or police.

Collin “Max” Friedli

Max Friedli helps other teens improve their ability to cope when things go wrong by being an effective listener and a teenager who is wise beyond his years. When Max notices that a peer is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts he engages with them. Max co-led an anti-bullying themed school dance for his middle […]