Category: Leadership

Posted on

2026 HGU Scholarship Spotlight: The Pioneer Pantry

One of the most basic needs we have as humans is the need for food. We simply cannot survive without it. For some families, providing this basic need is a very real, very tough struggle. Our top scholarship winner this year recognized that need in his community. Parker Bohr had been volunteering at his local food bank when it suddenly dissolved in June 2025. What Parker did next is nothing short of amazing.

Parker recently graduated from high school in Mooresville, Indiana. He loves to be active outdoors, spend time with his family and friends, and enjoys studying science and engineering. He will be attending Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the fall, with plans to major in Mechanical Engineering. 

When the local food pantry dissolved, Parker knew something needed to be done. He began brainstorming ideas, asking questions, and researching the reasons behind food insecurity. Since he had spent some time volunteering in a food pantry, he already had some idea of how a pantry should function. He began by making a website then getting approval from school administrators. His school happened to have an empty classroom with some fridges, freezers, and shelving, as well as a garage-style door that led to a drive through area. This set the stage for the Pioneer Pantry to come to life. 

Parker’s plan was simple: “People would drive up to a designated spot right by the door, we would greet them, they would fill out a Google Form, and we would give them boxes with food according to how many people are in the household. The food pantry would occur at least twice a month, and it would greatly help the community and face the problem of food insecurity head-on.” The dates of the pantry would be advertised to create awareness. There was one other factor to take into account: Parker recognized that many families who experienced food insecurity also struggled with the availability of reliable transportation. Rather than only providing food via the drive through, Parker and his team assembled bags of food to be taken to elementary schools. Students whose families had the need for food would then be able to take the bags home. To collect food, Parker has held food drives at his high school, and a larger food bank has agreed to partner with the Pioneer Pantry to donate food. 

In addition to the pantry serving the community, it has also helped students at the school. Located in the classroom next door to the pantry is a classroom for students with disabilities who are preparing to transition out of high school. With their teacher’s help, these students have the opportunity to help in the pantry. They stock shelves, help box food, and learn other important skills that will serve them as they transition out of high school. 

Parker says that the Pioneer Pantry will be able to continue to serve the community for many years to come. There is another student who will be taking over for him next school year, and the partnership with the food bank will enable the pantry to continue to bless the lives of those in need. 

When asked about the impact he had seen in his community, Parker said that the best part was that, “People that were hungry started to have food in their plates again after the project was in action. People that served realized how food insecurity impacted our community and it was just such a wholesome and wonderful environment in the pantry.” I can only imagine just how cool it was to see the difference it made in the lives of the people he served. Of the impact it had on himself, Parker commented, “It helped me realize just how much I can help others. While working on the food pantry, I realized I felt more fulfilled when I was using the gifts God had given me to provide for His people and help those He loves so dearly.” 

Parker was chosen as our top scholarship recipient this year. This means that in addition to receiving a $10,000 scholarship to go toward his tuition, he will also be receiving a $5,000 grant that will be used by the high school to continue the Pioneer Pantry’s success. 

What an amazing use of talents and resources! Incredible work, Parker. We were truly inspired by your project!

Posted on

2026 HGU Scholarship Spotlight: The Recycle & Repurpose Initiative

Issues that concern our planet are issues that impact all of us. It’s easy to sit back and let other people take care of those issues, but many hands make light work, and we all benefit from a healthier planet. One of our scholarship winners really stepped up and tackled a problem that is impacting our planet: proper battery disposal.

Samarah Agrawal recently graduated high school in Virginia. She is a creative thinker who enjoys learning, photography, graphic design, and listening to music. She loves a good brownie sundae (a girl after my own heart!), and enjoys trying new coffee shops with her friends. Samarah will be attending Virginia Tech this fall, with plans to major in Nanomedicine with a minor in Artificial Intelligence. 

Samara’s project starting taking shape when she was just 14. She first thought of the idea for the Repurpose & Recycle Initiative when she read a news story about a garbage truck fire that started because of an improperly disposed of lithium-ion battery. Samarah said, “After that, I started paying attention. I noticed old batteries sitting in kitchen drawers, classrooms, and office cabinets, waiting for someone to decide what to do with them. The more I looked into it, the more I realized the problem wasn’t that people didn’t want to recycle; they just didn’t have an easy way to do it. That was the moment that started my project. I wasn’t interested in telling people they should recycle batteries; I wanted to make it so easy that they actually would, and it’s been amazing to watch one idea create big change in my community.”

As good problem solvers do, Samarah then began asking questions and doing research. She needed to know why people were still throwing batteries in the trash. She soon realized that it wasn’t because they were ignoring the issue, but that they just didn’t know where and how to dispose of their old batteries. There simply weren’t really any convenient disposal options available. Samarah shared, “I moved my focus from raising awareness to creating a system that fit naturally into people’s everyday routines. I built the first collection boxes using my own resources and began reaching out to schools and community organizations to ask if they’d be willing to partner with me. As the project grew, I secured funding through local competitions and community grants, which helped cover the cost of additional collection boxes, educational materials, and expansion to new locations.”

Samarah’s project has been incredibly successful. In addition to creating and placing collection boxes around her community, she has also created a website that provides collection box locations, information on proper battery disposal, and more. She has also created pages on social media to raise awareness and share information, and has created a QR code that she puts on each of the collection boxes. When scanned, the QR code takes users to a Google form where they can give feedback and offer suggestions to improve the project. She has used that feedback to make necessary changes to her boxes and her process. Over the few years she has been running this initiative, Samarah has helped to collect and dispose of over 40,000 batteries! 

Her parents have been a huge support as she has done this project– driving her to drop off boxes, collect batteries, and take them to the proper disposal sites. She has learned that big change can come about by small means, and that good leaders ask questions. Just because she is graduated doesn’t mean the project will stop. She said, “Over the past several months, I’ve been focused on building a future by creating a Battery Recycling Ambassador Team made up of underclassmen who are passionate about service and sustainability. Rather than simply handing the project over, I’ve been developing a transition plan: training students on how to manage collection sites, safely handle and transport batteries, organize outreach events, collect data, and build relationships with community partners. I hope that they’ll not only continue what I’ve started, but also make it even better with their own ideas. I’m also putting together resources they’ll be able to rely on after I leave, including guides, safety procedures, and strategies for maintaining the collection boxes so the project can continue running year after year.” 

What a truly amazing project! Great work, Samarah!

Posted on

2026 HGU Scholarship Spotlight: Bilingual Buddies

Inclusion is such a vital part of creating a safe space for everyone. It goes much further than simply noticing someone; inclusion meets people where they are, regardless of race, gender, ability, ethnicity, or difference. One of our scholarship winners took this to heart and saw a great opportunity to make sure everyone felt included at his school. 

Mason Below created the Bilingual Buddies program as a way to help newly immigrated students feel seen and supported. Mason just graduated from high school in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be attending Vanderbilt University as a Chancellor’s Scholar this fall, with the plan to double major in Human & Organizational Development and Latin American Studies. He loves to travel, read, learn new languages, go on long runs, and enjoys playing soccer. His favorite subject is Spanish, and he loves to eat a good plate of sushi– and also enjoys a bag of Doritos as a quick snack. 

When Mason was in middle school, his family moved to Argentina, where he experienced first hand the difficulty of attending school in a place where the language and school traditions were unfamiliar. Upon his return to the states, he noticed many newly immigrated students were experiencing exactly what he had just been through. One night while at a school football game, he noticed many of the newly immigrated students weren’t in attendance. He said, “…These were students I saw every day in the hallways, but they weren’t participating in many of the activities that help students feel connected to our school community. Having attended school in another country and struggled through the experience of learning in a language I didn’t yet speak fluently, I understood how isolating that transition could be. I realized that while schools often provide academic support, there was no system helping students build the social connections and confidence that are equally important to success. That realization eventually became the foundation for Bilingual Buddies.”

Once he had the idea in his mind, he got to work making it a reality. He researched immigration trends in his area and talked with the school counselors, department leaders, school administration, and ESOL teachers to identify what exactly these new students were struggling with the most. Rather than launching a huge project right off the bat, he started small, with a trial run to see if it would be an effective idea. It turned out to be very effective, and continued to grow from there. 

The basis of the project was simple: identify newly immigrated students who needed extra support, then pair them with a student volunteer who spoke their same language. Mason worked closely with school counselors and ESOL teachers to identify students who could serve as buddies, as well as students who had recently moved to the states and needed extra support. Counselors and teachers use a database that helps connect students to a buddy who can help them.

The program has been incredibly successful. Keeping the future in mind, Mason designed and built the program to continue on for years to come. The program already has a student who will take over the program for the next couple of years. He said, “I created volunteer training materials, communication systems, and a database that allows counselors and teachers to quickly connect students with the bilingual volunteers…. Today, Bilingual Buddies includes more than thirty volunteers representing twenty-one languages, creating a broader culture of support and inclusion throughout the school.” 

One of Mason’s favorite success stories from the Bilingual Buddies program was about a student named Omid. Mason shared, “The most rewarding part was seeing students become more confident and engaged.I use this example a lot because it’s one of my favorite stories. One of the first students I worked with was Omid, who had recently arrived from Afghanistan. He was struggling academically and falling behind on assignments when I first met him. Although we didn’t have any volunteers who spoke Dari, his native language, we were able to pair him with a student who spoke Farsi, a closely related language. After being paired with a buddy, everything changed. His attendance improved, he caught up on assignments, and his confidence grew. Stories like his were echoed by feedback from teachers and counselors, who reported improvements in participation, communication, and student engagement.”

Mason said he learned that the best leaders start with listening. He learned to adjust as program needs changed when immigration rates started to decline, and found a way to continue helping the students who needed support. He is grateful for the connections he made and the friendships he gained through this program, and is excited that the program will continue to help students as they integrate into their new surroundings.

Wow! What an incredible project! I can only imagine the incredible impact this program has had, and will continue to have on both the newly immigrated students as well as the buddies they are paired with. Good work, Mason! 

Posted on

2026 HGU Scholarship Spotlight: Roots & Rise

Every spring, Honors Graduation awards a few graduating high school seniors each a $10,000 scholarship to go toward their tuition at their chosen college. In order to be considered for one of the scholarships, applicants must plan, initiate, execute, and oversee a community improvement project. One of my favorite parts of my job here at Honors Graduation is the chance to read through all of the scholarship applications that get submitted. It’s never easy to choose winners! There are truly some amazing young people who are making change in their own communities. 

This year, we chose four deserving seniors who dedicated countless hours to their causes. Each project was inspiring and they each deserve their own spotlight post here on our blog. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about each project and the amazing people behind them. 

Our first spotlight post is on Aditi Muduganti, who saw a need for young students to have access to a hands-on learning opportunity where they could see the impact of climate change and environmentally responsible actions. Her project, Roots & Rise: A Youth Pocket Forest, did just that, and will continue to do so as the forest grows and matures.

Aditi just graduated from Onalaska High School in Wisconsin, and will be attending MIT in the fall. She loves chocolate covered strawberries, ballet dancing, and learning about startups. She has a passion for learning, especially about math and physics. She also enjoys researching machine learning and doing astrophysics. In addition to being the driving force behind Roots & Rise, Aditi also received a grant that she used to author and publish a children’s book, Tech Tales: Heroes for a Sustainable Future.

When asked what inspired her to do her project and why she chose to serve the demographic she did, Aditi said, “What inspired me to do my project, Roots and Rise, is that I wanted to implement a hands on learning approach for younger students in my community. I did this though the medium of planting a Miyawaki Forest at a local elementary school because these forests grow incredibly quickly and mature 10x faster than a normal forest. By planting only native plants very densely, this is able to be achieved. This is Wisconsin’s first Miyawaki forest, and I hope other communities implement this planting approach to decrease their grass cover in their communities… I chose to plant this forest at an elementary school because younger students need to understand the effects of climate change, as they will be the leaders tackling these problems. In my rural community, I wanted these students to have a better understanding of the science behind sustainability and climate change because every student deserves knowledge, no matter their background.”

To get started on her project, Aditi reached out to her local Sierra Club to learn who to connect with to obtain the plants she would need to make her dream a reality. She also said that she “…did a lot of research on Miyawaki forests by finding out the optimal soil type, how much of each type of plant we needed, which plants were native to my region, and how to arrange them. I organized a community planting day after advertising around my county. This brought together multiple students and community members on a hot day to plant together! I also installed an educational sign at the forest. I secured funding for this whole project through the La Crosse Youth Climate Action Fund where I got a grant to complete the project over the summer.” 

One of the most rewarding parts of this project has been seeing the impact the forest has already had on young minds. Seeing and hearing the excitement of elementary school students as they interact with the forest has made every bit of the project worth it! The forest will continue to provide educational opportunities for years to come as the forest grows and matures. Aditi plans to come back to visit and tend to the forest whenever she comes back to her hometown. Her hope is that students at the elementary school will learn how to properly weed and care for the forest as it grows. 

Amazing work, Aditi! We wish you the best as you move forward with your college experience!

You can find out more about the Miyawaki Forest Method by clicking here.

Posted on

And the Awards Go To…

Each year, we have the opportunity to award some deserving high school seniors with a $10,000 scholarship. We also select one of our winners to be our top winner; this individual receives an additional $5,000 to continue their project. Each applicant has completed a community improvement project, based on a need they saw in their community. We choose winners based on a few different criteria, with long-term potential for the project to continue benefitting the community being one of the main criteria. Every year, we are so inspired and moved by the many projects that are submitted– there is so much good in the world! This year was no exception, and we are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 HGU Build A Better Future Scholarship.

TOP WINNER:

Parker Bohr- Pioneer Pantry

When the food pantry Parker was volunteering at closed down, those facing food insecurity in his community were left wondering what to do. Parker’s concern for these families pushed him to find a solution. Working with school staff, he was able to secure an unused room at the school. Soon, the Pioneer Pantry was born. He held food drives, created a website, and provided food for many families. The Pioneer Pantry will continue to bless the lives of people in the community because of the work and dedication Parker put into it. In addition to helping families in need, the life skills/transition class, which is right next door to the pantry, has been able to help out stocking shelves, preparing food to be given, and so on. This has allowed these students to be given some real-life experience, and has helped them gain important skills as they transition out of high school and into the adult world. 

Great job, Parker!

OTHER WINNERS:

Mason Below- Bilingual Buddies Program

Mason noticed a disconnect at school: many of the newly immigrated students weren’t attending extracurricular activities. After doing some investigating, he realized it was because there was a big problem with language barriers getting in the way. These new students were struggling to learn English, and therefore, not engaging in activities because they simply did not understand. Mason sought out to find a way to help this problem. Together with a counselor and teacher at his school, they created a list of newly immigrated students and what language they spoke. Next, they generated a list of established students who also spoke foreign languages. Finally, using those lists, they pair a newly immigrated student with an established student who spoke their language. These “Bilingual Buddies” help new students navigate academic and extracurricular things at school, thus helping the new students to feel more comfortable and more aware of what is going on around them. What a great idea, Mason! Every high school should implement a system like this!

Aditi Muduganti- Roots & Rise: A Youth Pocket Forest

Aditi noticed that students were learning about environmental issues, but didn’t really have access to nature to observe these issues in real time. Rather than sit back and let it continue, she got to work. Aditi authored a children’s book about sustainability and responsible environmental practices. She visited schools and read her book to the students there. She also noticed that there was a large patch of land that wasn’t being used at one of the elementary schools. She began formulating a plan: using this space, she would plant a pocket forest, using the Miyawaki method. Essentially, she would create a real forest that is compact and sustainable. This forest could then be used to educate students about nature. With the help of her community, she planned a planting day and planted the pocket forest. Students can now come and observe and learn from the forest in this new outdoor classroom. 

Great work, Aditi!

Samarah Agrawal- Recycle & Repurpose Initiative 

When she was only 14 years old, Samarah came across a story about a garbage truck catching on fire because of one improperly disposed of battery. She began to observe a gap between the dependence on batteries and accessible and proper disposal of those batteries. Samarah discovered that there were battery recycling options, but that those opportunities were few and far between. Realizing that there had to be a better way, Samarah began the Recycle & Repurpose Initiative. She created battery recycling boxes and began placing them around town. Soon, she began to see those boxes being used. So, she continued to press on, making more boxes, creating a website, and teaching the community about proper battery disposal. In the few years she has been working on this project, she has successfully obtained and properly disposed of over 40,000 batteries! She continues to leave boxes around her town, and people continue to use them.

Impressive work, Samarah!

Isn’t it amazing what one person can do? These brilliant young minds saw a need and found a way to address it, impacting their communities, and changing lives. We are so proud of these four seniors and their drive, determination, and passion. Stay tuned for more detailed posts about each winner and their project. 

Posted on

Applying for Our Scholarship? Here’s Some Tips!

Attention all graduating seniors! If you are planning on applying for our Build A Better Future Scholarship, this is for you! The final deadline is exactly one month from today! Final applications are due by 11:59 pm MST on Monday, April 13, 2026. Once a week until then, I will be sharing some tips and reminders for you to consider as you get ready to submit your final application.

As you put your project into motion, don’t forget to document your process through pictures and videos! Take pictures of you in action, working on your project. If you have volunteers helping you, snap some pictures of them as they work. If you host any kind of meeting, presentation, workshop, or class, have someone take a short video of you as you do your thing. If your project includes collecting donations of items, don’t forget to take some pictures of the donations that come in. Then, remember to take a picture of you at the place where the donations are being taken. If you think you’ll want a picture of something, take the picture!

One of the requirements for the final application is that you include a minimum of 5-10 pictures of your project in action. We also have a requirement for a short 3-5 minute video to be included with your application. You can certainly put some of your pictures in your video, but we also require that pictures be submitted separately as well. You can find the requirements for the video in our Scholarship Checklist, which can be found at the bottom of this page.

Beyond meeting the requirements for the final submission, having picture and video documentation of your project will provide you with lifelong mementos of the time you spent serving your community, and that is a priceless reminder of time well spent.

Scholarship-Checklist-2Download
Posted on

Walking Report Cards

My kids’ school had their final Parent-Teacher Conferences of the year last night. It’s wild to think that we are getting so close to the end of the school year! Last night’s conferences were different from the others we’ve attended this year. Typically, we sign up for a time slot to sit down and talk with each teacher for 10-15 minutes. Those are great, and I love hearing about the progress my children are making and talking with their teachers. 

Last night, however, they did what is called a “Walking Report Card” where the kids were in charge of the night. The teacher provided a set of instructions, then, using a checklist provided by the teacher, the students were expected to take over from there. Each teacher had set up four or five different stations, which we rotated through at our own pace and in the order we chose. Each station focused on a different area of study: science, math, reading, writing, and/or social studies. 

Rather than the teacher going over some of our kids’ work, our kids got the chance to show us what they have been learning about. We were able to see their progress in action! It was such a cool opportunity for the kids to take control of the conference. They felt so empowered and important while they took us through the rotations. Additionally, they took so much pride and ownership in their work as they showed us what they could do. 

It was a nice break for the teachers, too, since they could casually roam the room and answer any questions parents had for them rather than sit at their desk all night. They still had to prepare for the night by collecting work samples to send home with parents, as well as to set up the stations, but the conferences themselves were much more relaxed. 

The stations looked different for each grade, but they all had the same goal: to let the students show what they know. A math station might ask students to complete a couple of equations, draw out an array for a multiplication problem, use a candy bracelet to show their knowledge of fractions, or complete a word problem. Science stations could include activities like demonstrating how magnets work, drawing how a sound wave travels between two objects, labeling the parts of a plant, and so forth. For a reading station, teachers might have students read a passage then summarize what they read, do a timed reading to see how many words they could read in a minute, or reading a short story they had written. For writing, my third grader showed us how he could neatly write a sentence in cursive. My fourth grader read me a passage he had written about the Boston Tea Party. My kindergartener got to show us how he can write the correct word to match a picture. 

There were so many different ways for students to demonstrate their learning, and it was so neat to see first hand what my kids are learning about and doing at school. They did take a little longer than traditional conferences, but the outcome was worth the extra time, and the pride each student felt during and after was priceless!

Does your school do walking report cards?