St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hagerstown, Md.
Senior, North Hagerstown High School; environmental, food security advocate; Congressional Award Gold Medal recipient
I’ve been an active member at St. John my whole life. I started Sunday school as a toddler and loved the experience. When I began confirmation class in seventh grade, the world was just shutting down with COVID-19. We had our classes every week by Zoom, and it was hard, but we all stuck with it. Coming out of COVID, things were different. Most of my friends from Sunday school stopped coming and, all of a sudden, I was the only teen at my church. There was no Sunday school class for me, so I took on the Micah’s Backpack program. Every week during the Sunday school hour, I put on my headphones and get to work.
I oversee Micah’s Backpack at St. John. I’ve been packing 30 bags of weekend food for the elementary school down the street from my church for over four years now. The need is great in my town. The school I serve has nearly 100% of its students on the free and reduced lunch program. There are more than 100 people on the waitlist for our Micah’s Backpack program. It makes me sad to think of kids going hungry.
I am passionate about food insecurity, and a lot of that passion was born out of Micah’s Backpack. My mom and I attend community meetings four times a year for our county’s program. I’m the only student at those meetings. I do the food bank orders quarterly to purchase supplies for the Micah’s bags. I’ve learned a lot about inventories, budgeting and stretching the funds to get the most nutrition. While I do wish I could do more, I know that I’m making a significant difference.
For the last three years, I have served as student liaison on the board of It’s a Blessing to Be a Blessing (IAB) as youth advisory leader. IAB is a grassroots nonprofit organization that feeds the downtown Hagerstown community. We offer lunches for anyone who needs them every weekday. We do a bagged lunch four days a week, and on Thursday, we offer a hot, sit-down lunch. IAB rents the downstairs space at St John. I first volunteered in 2021. I really enjoyed the experience, and as I kept coming, I knew that I could do more.
I approached IAB’s founder, Mama Dee, and asked if I could serve on the board of directors. I suggested the role of student liaison. I’ve had a lot of duties on the board but, most notably, I’ve done several letter-writing campaigns, securing over $10,000 in donations and a truckload of fresh produce from a local farm; I’ve recruited over 50 student volunteers to help with IAB functions; and I organized a toiletries drive for kids to get a clean start to the new school year.
I started volunteering with the environmental nonprofit Antietam-Conococheague Watershed Alliance when I was in elementary school. In 2022, I was nominated to be their first student board member. I wrote an educational blog about the wildlife in our watershed for about a year. (Fifty blog posts!) I helped out on grant writing that benefited the local community through urban tree plantings as well. I enjoy writing, and I was happy to help the organization in being awarded $85,000 in funding.
I oversee the Micah’s Backpack program at St. John. I’ve been packing 30 bags of weekend food for the elementary school down the street for over four years.
My environmental work started when I was very little. I was planting trees on weekends, doing trash cleanups with my family and helping my brother do an urban tree study. The work that I did made me appreciate the natural world around me. Although I’ve recently been more focused on food insecurity issues and the policies that perpetuate poverty, I still find ways to advocate for the environment.
Beginning in 10th grade, I conducted a two-year study on food insecurity at my high school. I surveyed teachers and students about food access, hunger during the school day and knowledge of food resources. Based on my findings, I created an online food resource directory that was accessible by all students and staff. I then partnered with Washington County Public School’s (WCPS) Food & Nutrition Services to implement a food-share table program to all 43 schools in the county.
My research into food insecurity uncovered another massive issue: food waste. As students are going hungry, perfectly good food is being thrown into the trash every day at local schools. This realization drove me to dig deeper. In 11th grade, I conducted a study into the correlation between food waste and carbon emissions in developed nations, connecting hunger and climate change. I proposed waste audits for WCPS Food & Nutrition Services as well as localized cafeteria waste. This investigation led to the consideration of a composting program at the school board level.
I earned my Eagle Scout rank in ninth grade. My Eagle service project was born out of a slightly selfish wish: My brother is 5 years older than me, and we’re a family of tennis players. Watching my brother play tennis in high school always meant sitting on the grass in front of my parents’ camping chairs. So, I built eight benches at my high school’s tennis courts: one for the home team, one for the visitors’ team and six for spectators. As a member of the varsity tennis team for four years, it makes me smile that there are places to sit and no little siblings sitting in the grass.
Since earning Eagle, I have continued in scouting. I was fortunate to attend the High Adventure Sea Base in the Florida Keys. I’ve earned the National Conservation Award of Distinction for doing two Eagle-caliber projects with a lasting impact on the environment. And most recently, I served on the Scouting America’s National Youth Council, where I was one of 39 scouts chosen to advise the Key 3 leadership on policy review and to represent the more than 1 million scouts nationwide.
Earning the Congressional Award Gold Medal last year was a culmination of three years of hard work. The requirements for the award are as follows: 400 hours of community service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness, and completing an expedition/exploration. All the work must be logged and verified by an advisor. In the summer of my junior year, I was awarded the Gold Medal. I was able to meet my congressman, David Trone, and my senator, Chris Van Hollen, and spend time with CEOs and business leaders in Washington, D.C. It was an amazing experience, and the whole process taught me a lot about commitment, time management and hard work.
I serve as student liaison on the board of It’s a Blessing to Be a Blessing, a nonprofit organization that feeds the downtown Hagerstown community.
I’m a four-year member of Key Club with my high school. We have a very large chapter, and I’ve participated in many service projects with the organization. From Earth Day events to passing out roses at nursing homes on Valentine’s Day, there have been many fun moments. We partnered with an organization called Sleep in Heavenly Peace, building beds for those who don’t have any, and that was very moving to do. It’s encouraging to see so many of my peers involved in making our community a better place.
My favorite sports are tennis and pickleball, both of which I’ve played since I was 4 or 5. Tennis is a tough mental sport: it’s just you out there. You lose a lot of points—even if you win the match. Tennis has taught me a great deal about mental toughness and how to handle pressure. Pickleball is a new sport for a lot of people, but I’ve played with my grandparents for as long as I can remember. There are no kids’ leagues, so my older brother and I play with a group at a local community center. We’re the youngest by over 20 years. It’s such a fun sport, and I hope to start a club team when I get to college.
I see God everywhere. When I was little and attending vacation Bible school, we always had a time when we talked about “God sightings.” I remember saying things like, “A butterfly!” or “My mom made me mac and cheese!” As I’ve grown, I see God in the faces of the people I serve, in my friends and family who support me, and in the quiet reminders that love and grace are all around.
I pray for world peace every night, and for the equitable treatment of every person on Earth. I also pray for the health of my family and friends, and continued success for those around me.
I’m a Lutheran because my faith calls me to serve, to meet people where they are, to extend compassion and to live grace through action.
If you’d like to nominate someone for “I’m a Lutheran,” email livinglutheran@elca.org.
