Students came up with so many good ideas for solving problems in Loudoun County, Virginia, this year that the judges in the annual Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition couldn’t pick only one grand prize winner.
The iloom – Returns to Work and Resi-lution teams finished the final round of competition with identical high scores, earning $1,000 apiece to support their projects. The contest, run by Loudoun Youth, Inc. and Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services, challenges teens to identify community problems and implement innovative solutions. The YouthQuest Foundation has been the prize money sponsor every year since 2012.
The iloom team answers questions from the judges at the final round of the 2019 Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
Step Up “taught us the power of compassion,” Sahana Arumani said as she explained iloom to a panel of judges that included YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks on April 11.
The project she created along with Shreya Arun, Abhinav Babu and Pranav Babu mobilizes manufacturers, online retailers and volunteers to address community needs with returned merchandise. They established a nonprofit organization that now has chapters in four states, where businesses send returned items, which are then sent to charities or sold for cash that is donated to charities.
Step Up competitors approach problems with a combination of the latest technology and social networking, along with old-fashioned deal-making skills and dedication to their community. Persistence helps, too.
Lacey Tanner, a senior at Rock Ridge High School, who launched a Step Up project to clean up Beaverdam Creek Reservoir, was one of the 10 finalists two years ago. This year, she shared the first-place prize with Carter Casagrande, Annabelle Monte, Ava Turicchi and Joe Waxvik – Brambleton Middle School students she has trained to take over the project when she goes away to college. Their Resi-lution team is organizing trash pick-up events in the 1,000-acre park and raising money for a shed to store cleanup equipment in preparation for the reservoir reopening to the public after being drained for repairs.
Members of the Resi-lution team celebrate their first-place finish
Academy of Engineering and Technology student Sanjitha Prabakaran took home the $500 third-place award for STEM for Scouts. Her project encourages Girl Scouts to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and math through camps, classes and instructional videos.
Each of the other teams that reached the finals earned $250.
More than 200 students representing two dozen schools made presentations to judges in the preliminary round of this year’s Step Up competition on March 28 at Loudoun County Public Schools headquarters in Ashburn. Those 65 teams were narrowed down to the top 10, who competed in the finals on April 11 at the Brambleton Library.
YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks presents the prize money check to Loudoun Youth CEO Jared Melvin
Before announcing the winners, Loudoun Youth President and CEO Jared Melvin noted there were lots of familiar faces among the finalists. The Bridges team, which works to make sure students whose first language isn’t English feel included in activities at Park View High School, and COBRA, which educates people about healthy alternatives to cancer-causing foods, were among the Top 10 in 2018. So was Ari Dixit. In response to the overwhelming caseload school guidance counselors in the county face, he developed StudentCounselor, a voice-interface app. Last year, Ari won third prize for a similar project to help immigrants prepare for the U.S. citizenship test.
The results of the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition has been so positive since it began in 2004 that the organizers are preparing to challenge the other largest school systems in the nation to step up with similar programs of their own to solve community problems.
____________________________________________ We thank our supporters for making these moments possible through their contributions. You can support our work by: Making a donation through our secure PayPal link Choosing us as your designated charity on AmazonSmile Registering on Bidding for Good so you can take part in our online auctions, sign up for our golf tournament, and support other upcoming fundraisers ____________________________________________
As we wrap up an eventful year filled with accomplishments, here’s a look back at the YouthQuest Foundation’s most memorable moments.
Success for More At-Risk Teens
Sixty-five cadets from National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs completed our 3D ThinkLink training this year. We taught these at-risk youth to think differently about failure and success as they prepare to enter the job market or pursue higher education.
Click picture to see more photos
Our classes help students develop sought-after STEM skills through hands-on experience with professional-level CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software, 3D printers and computers. In addition, the trial-and-error nature of 3D printing teaches our students about critical thinking, problem-solving, perseverance, resilience, creativity and collaboration. These “soft skills” are even more valuable to employers than the technical skills.
Nearly 300 ChalleNGe cadets have completed 3D ThinkLink training since we launched the project in 2013. We have reached many more young people through our partnerships with the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families at schools in Fairfax and Annandale, Virginia, for students with autism and other special needs; and with Horizons Hampton Roads, serving low-income children in Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
This year, we rewarded 13 cadets for their outstanding performance in class by bringing them to our lab for a week of advanced training. Seven students earned scholarships for the essays they wrote about the impact the 3D ThinkLink experience had on their lives. The 2018 essay competition winners are: Caleb Pearson ($1,000) from SCYCA; Chigaru Todd ($1,000) and Jacob Foote ($500) from CGYCA; Sthephanie Alvarez-Vega ($1,000), Bradley Berry, Trevor Haney and Dante Isom ($500) from Freestate.
A Chance Encounter, a Lightbulb Moment
We put a lot of planning into Vocational Orientation to make sure our students get the most out of the events, which show them how 3D printing is used at businesses and universities. But sometimes the best parts of these field trips are unscripted. Freestate Instructor Jamarr Dennis recalled the moment during a Vocational Orientation tour of The Foundery in Baltimore that “the lightbulb went on” for Cadet Sthephanie Alvarez-Vega when she struck up a conversation with craftsman/entrepreneur Festus Jones.
Vocational Orientation and Inspiration
Like Sthephanie, South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadet Caleb Pearson attended Immersion Lab training and earned a scholarship in the essay contest. And like her, Caleb was unexpectedly inspired by someone he met during Vocational Orientation. Nathan Lambert, a top graduate student, helped guide the SCYCA group through the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Mechanical Engineering Department in October. Toward the end of the tour, Nathan told the cadets that he’d hated high school and barely graduated, but after serving in the military, he discovered his passion for engineering and learned to excel in college. “It made me feel really confident,” said Caleb, an aspiring engineer who once struggled in school. “If this man has made it this far in his life … and I want to be exactly where he is, I can do it.”
Stepping Up With Loudoun Youth
The YouthQuest Foundation has been the prize money sponsor for the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition every year since 2012. The contest, run by Loudoun Youth, Inc. and Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services, challenges teams of teens in Loudoun County, Virginia, to identify problems in their communities, then develop and implement solutions.
We have been so impressed by Step Up’s results that we doubled our contribution to $5,000 this year. YouthQuest Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann made the announcement at the preliminary round of competition for more than 60 teams on April 5.
This year’s winning team, Princess Packages, started a volunteer organization to lift the spirits of young girls who suffer from sadness and isolation during long hospital stays. Other top-10 team projects included a tutoring and mentoring program for elementary school students, a chatbot app to help immigrants to improve their English language skills and study for the U.S. citizenship exam, and a networking service to connect teens with employment and volunteer opportunities.
Teams for next year’s Step Up contest have already formed and we can’t wait to see what projects they create in the spring.
Recognition for Innovation
Operations Manager Juan Louro, President Lynda Mann and Communications Director Steve Pendlebury send Drucker Prize semifinal submission form
We are honored to have been chosen as one of the 50 semifinalists for this year’s Drucker Prize, a $100,000 award for innovation by nonprofit organizations.
Our presentation about the 3D ThinkLink Initiative was selected from among more than 500 entries nationwide for the prize, which recognizes nonprofits that best exemplify business management legend Peter Drucker’s definition of innovation: “Change that creates a new dimension of performance.”
This was our third year competing for the Drucker Prize and each time, we get a little farther. We look forward to entering the contest again in 2019.
These excerpts from our Drucker Prize presentation sum up the principles that will continue to drive our organization in the year ahead.
The YouthQuest Foundation exists to help America’s at-risk youth become successful adults by changing the way they think about their past failures and providing opportunities for them to fulfill their potential through education and life-changing experiences.
The at-risk youth we serve – minorities, kids with disabilities and those from low-income families – make up a disproportionate share of America’s dropouts. They’re on a path that leads to poverty and even prison.
The kids we serve once saw themselves as failures. We help change their perception of failure, and of themselves, by offering an innovative way to get them on course to a better life.
Friends of YouthQuest turned out on August 6 for the 13th annual golf tournament to support our foundation’s work with at-risk youth.
More than 80 players enjoyed a day on Trump National Golf Club’s scenic Championship Course in Potomac Falls, Virginia, recently ranked by Golf Digest as one of the nation’s best new private courses.
Retired Redskins star Larry Brown and the winning team from Kipps DeSanto
The Challenge at Trump National is YouthQuest’s premier annual event to raise funds for programs such as our 3D ThinkLink Initiative, which uses 3D design and printing as a vehicle for teaching at-risk youth valuable job skills and thinking skills. The program has earned us recognition as a semifinalist in this year’s Drucker Prize competition, which rewards innovation by nonprofits, and as a nominee for the 2017 Greater Washington Innovation Awards in the Public Service category.
Since 2012, YouthQuest has also been the prize money sponsor for the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition. This year, we doubled our support for the contest, in which teens in Loudoun County, Virginia, identify problems in their community and implement projects to solve them.
Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition winning teams
At the post-tournament reception and awards ceremony, Loudoun Youth President and CEO Jared Melvin spoke about Step Up. Three first-place teams from recent years also were on hand to explain their projects to tournament guests. This year’s winners, Lina Alkarmi from Dominion High School and Shahlaley Nagra from Heritage High School, showcased their Princess Packages project, which lifts the spirits of young girls who are hospitalized. Students representing 2016 winner PASTA (Peers and Students Taking Action), explained how their group helps teens find opportunities to serve the community. And the young leaders of Charitable Act, the 2015 winner, promoted their nonprofit that provides summer theater camps for underprivileged children.
Volunteer of the Year Tony Sanderson
Also at the reception, YouthQuest Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann announced that FEDAC Vice President Tony Sanderson has been chosen as our 2018 Volunteer of the Year. She also congratulated this year’s Strategic Partner Award winner, Maryland-based 3D printer maker M3D, and the Community Partner Award winner, Maryland’s Harford Community College.
Silver Sponsor Kipps DeSanto was this year’s winning team in the scramble-format tournament with a score of 59. Team members Kevin DeSanto, Scott Green, Rich Holland and Jonathan Moneymaker played with Larry Brown, the former Washington Redskins running back.
Golf Entertainer Brad Denton
Other VIP guest players were Redskins alumni Roy Jefferson, Carl Kammerer and Jerry Olsen, Air Force Col. Doug Hall, Loudoun Fire and Rescue Chief Keith Johnson, Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Chief Miguel Quijano, and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Deputies Joe Heydens and Kenny Tucker.
Edna Davis, YouthQuest’s 2015 Volunteer of the Year, served as the coordinator for our tournament volunteers.
Golf Entertainer Brad Denton was back this year, after missing the last tournament due to injury, to start the event with his always-amazing trick shot demonstration.
Scorpion Strike author John Gilstrap
New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap, who volunteers his time and expertise to judge our essay contest in which 3D ThinkLink students compete for scholarships, was at the reception signing copies Scorpion Strike, the latest book in his Jonathan Grave thriller series.
We are also grateful to Jeff Mauritzen from inPhotograph.com for his tournament photography, Mercedes-Benz of Chantilly for providing the hole-in-one car, and Honor Brewing for serving cold beer to the thirsty golfers on a hot August day.
What was your biggest accomplishment in seventh grade? Never forgetting your locker combination? Scoring a seat at the cool kids’ lunch table? How about creating a way to help immigrants become U.S. citizens?
That’s what Brambleton Middle School seventh grader Ari Dixit did and it earned him one of the top prizes in the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition.
Ari Dixit created the Citizenship Coach app for Google Assistant
Ari was one of a record 200-plus teens who entered this year’s contest, in which Loudoun County, Virginia students identify problems in their communities, then develop and implement solutions.
The YouthQuest Foundation has been the prize money sponsor for Step Up every year since 2012. We have been so impressed by the program’s results that we doubled our contribution to $5,000 this year.
YouthQuest Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann made the announcement at the preliminary round of competition for more than 60 teams on April 5 at Loudoun County Public Schools headquarters in Ashburn. She served as one of the judges, helping pick the top ten teams to make presentations in the April 12 finals held at K2M headquarters in Leesburg.
Lina Alkarmi and Shahlaley Nagra tell the judges about Princess Packages
This year’s $1,000 first prize went to Lina Alkarmi from Dominion High School and Shahlaley Nagra from Heritage High School for their Princess Packages project. Both girls attend the Academy of Engineering and Technology every other school day and hope to become doctors. After learning that young girls who are hospitalized have an especially hard time with feelings of sadness and isolation, they started a volunteer organization to lift those children’s spirits.
Every little girl wants to be a princess, Lina and Shahlaley explained to the judges. So they mobilized volunteers to assemble packages of goodies such as crowns, wands, bracelet kits, stickers and other craft supplies. More than 130 Princess Packages have been delivered to 4- to 10-year-old girls in Loudoun County hospitals.
YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks presents the prize money check to Loudoun Youth CEO Jared Melvin
The Nothing’s ImPASTAble team of Manali Gantaram and Umika Tunuguntla from Rock Ridge High School took the $700 second-place prize. They launched a program to help students in grades three through six improve their confidence and academic performance. Nothing’s ImPASTAble has provided nearly 700 tutoring and mentoring sessions so far.
Ari Dixit was awarded the $400 third-place prize for developing his Citizenship Coach app. It’s built on the Google Assistant platform, which allows immigrants to improve their English language skills and study for the U.S. citizenship exam by talking with the chatbot.
The other seven finalist teams received $200 each to support their projects, which address issues such as feeding the homeless, preventing cancer and obesity, connecting teens with employment and volunteer opportunities, recycling art supplies and encouraging English language learners to get involved in school and community activities.
Loudoun County business and community organization leaders served as judges for the Step Up preliminary and final competitions. Besides YouthQuest, sponsors include Backflow Technology and Maid Brigade.
Click here to learn more about the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition.
One of the many highlights of 2017 for our foundation was being nominated as Public Service Innovator of the Year by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce for our 3D ThinkLink Initiative in March. The months that followed were filled with examples of our program’s value in building better lives for at-risk youth.
“Our innovation is not that we introduce kids to 3D design and printing, it’s how we use this technology as a vehicle to teach the important life skills at-risk youth lack, such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and the confidence to fail,” said YouthQuest Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann. “3D printing is perfectly suited for showing kids who’ve failed in school that mistakes are part of the learning process – that they are the beginning of something good, not the end of something bad.”
Greater Washington Innovation Awards Showcase in March
Being a Greater Washington Innovation Awards nominee gave us the opportunity to tell regional leaders about YouthQuest’s life-changing work with young people like Aunya’ Jones, a top student in our 3D ThinkLink class at Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy.
“Before 3D printing, I did not believe in myself, and I had accepted the opinion that I was not good enough,” Aunya’ wrote in an essay that earned her a $500 YouthQuest scholarship to continue her education.
“3D printing has helped guide me into making better decisions and gave me a new life skill along the way. It has really helped me understand my self-worth because now I know I can design my own future,” she explained. “I now see the bigger picture to my life’s problems and I’m not afraid to face them.”
In his essay, LaMarcus described how the 3D ThinkLink experience changed his way of thinking. He said it helped him control his anger and improve his concentration.
“When I come to class, my whole mood changes,” LaMarcus wrote. “I become happy because I know that I’m in a good place.”
LaMarcus also said our class brought out the creativity he used to keep “all bottled in” and taught him how to “think about stuff differently.”
A YEAR OF ACHIEVEMENT
Aunya’ and LaMarcus are also two of the ChalleNGe Cadets who took part advanced training this year in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab at our headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia.
Advanced Training in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab in June
The June lab sessions focused on our project to train 3D ThinkLink graduates as Youth Mentors, giving them the skills and equipment to teach others about 3D printing and serve as positive role models in their communities. LaMarcus was there along with fellow Capital Guardian Cadet Adrian Vasquez, and David Kelly and Stephen Brown from Freestate.
Adrian told us during lab week that he used to have problems in school and our class helped get him back on track.
“I would get good grades, but my mind would always be on something else. So I got caught up with stuff I wasn’t supposed to be around. But ever since I started 3D, my mind has been nowhere near that stuff,” he said. “It’s like therapy, a type of therapy. Working on 3D designs keeps me focused, not on the other nonsense stuff.”
In December, we tried something different by taking our advanced training out of our lab and into the classroom at Camp Schwartz on the Capital Guardian campus. Cadets Keyonte Alston, Quadaija Hudgens and Alexander Price honed their design and printing skills during three days of training. A couple of weeks later, they graduated from Capital Guardian along with four other Cadets who completed our 3D ThinkLink class; Divine Carr, Markus Kemp, Keith Pettiford, and Herman Signou.
Throughout 2017, we repeatedly saw proof that what works for the teens in ChalleNGe academies also works for at-risk kids in other kinds of programs we serve.
PHILLIPS students and teachers explore the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab
The PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families has seen great success tailoring our curriculum for students on the autism spectrum. PHILLIPS was so pleased with the results of last year’s 3D ThinkLink pilot project at its Annandale, Virginia, school that it expanded the class to its Fairfax campus this year. Some of the students from last year’s class are now involved in a 3D printing club at the Annandale campus, too. It was a pleasure to have PHILLIPS students visit our 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab in April.
It’s also been gratifying to watch the growth of our partnership with Horizons Hampton Roads, an academic, cultural, and recreational program for kids from low-income families in Virginia’s Tidewater area. We started with last year’s Summer Enrichment Program, providing a 3D ThinkLink class for sixth-graders at a single site in Portsmouth. This summer, the project expanded to sites in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, reaching a total of 32 kids. The students were “engaged and challenged” by our curriculum, according to the annual report from Horizons Hampton Roads, and teachers were excited to try some new projects they’d developed that used 3D design and printing to support STEM lessons, such as creating a paddlewheel for a ferryboat.
“The 3D printing was a great experience,” HHR teacher Franklin Baker reported. “From the design portion to troubleshooting, our students had to problem-solve from the first step to the last.”
Highly skilled, enthusiastic teachers are the key to our program’s success. That’s why our teacher training sessions are so important. Teachers from several partner programs came to our lab for a week in February and October this year to learn about curriculum changes, software updates, and new printers and materials.
“We want to give them the best tools and motivate them to learn how to use those tools so they can be the best teachers for the at-risk students we serve,” explained YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks.
A YEAR OF GIVING
Giving back to the community is one of YouthQuest’s core values.
One of the ways our organization gives back locally is by sponsoring the annual Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition. This was the sixth straight year we’ve provided the prize money for the contest, which challenges teens in Loudoun County, Virginia, to identify problems in their community and implement solutions.
Top 10 teams in the 2017 Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
Kriti Ganotra from Broad Run High School earned the $1,000 top prize this year for developing a free device that detects computer network vulnerabilities.
“I want to bring it to Loudoun County, using high schoolers to create a community where everyone is educated about cyber-bullying, cyber-security, cyber-threats and technology,” Kriti said in an interview with Loudoun Youth. “I want to bring this to every single house and eventually patent this into something that we can develop all around the nation.”
YouthQuest supporters also gave back generously this year to make our 12th annual golf tournament a success. Even though it rained for the first time in the history of our signature fundraising event, more than 100 players and volunteers turned out at Trump National Golf Club on August 7.
We were especially pleased to welcome Insperity, Pure Storage and ePlus as new sponsors this year.
For the first time, the winning team received 3D-printed trophies that were designed and produced in our lab by Tom Meeks.
YouthQuest Co-Founder Allen Cage putts at the golf tournament in August
The tournament’s Silent Auction raised more money than ever and we collected an additional $2,500 through a new fundraising tool, the Giving Tree. The tree displayed at the post-tournament reception and the August 3 VIP Reception hosted by Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Tysons was decorated with tags that were 3D printed in our lab. Each tag gave donors an easy way to provide equipment, supplies and other resources for our 3D ThinkLink students.
Also at the reception, we presented our 2017 Volunteer of the Year Award to Tammy Haug, National Sales Manager for AOC Solutions. Not only does Tammy volunteer at the golf tournament every year, she assisted us with our 10th Anniversary Celebration in Chantilly and the 3D printing workshops we conducted at the National Society of Black Engineers Convention in Anaheim, California, in 2015.
Our 2017 Community Partner Award went to Copy General in Sterling, Virginia, whose constant support for YouthQuest includes printing the program for the golf tournament every year. IMADE3D won the Strategic Partner Award. We’ve worked with IMADE3D since 2015 and are big fans of their JellyBox 3D printer kit. We have several of the printers in our lab and our advanced students always enjoy building and using them.
Volunteers in the clubhouse at the golf tournament in August
Our donors also gave generously on November 28, when we participated for the second year in #GivingTuesday, a global celebration of philanthropy. We also became part of AmazonSmile this year, giving Amazon users the ability to select YouthQuest as their charity. For every purchase they make, the AmazonSmile Foundation makes a donation to us.
2018 promises to be another year filled with innovations and expansion for us. We’re eager to start the next round of teacher training in February, as that will be a major step toward reactivating our 3D ThinkLink program at South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy, which has been on hiatus for a year. In previous years, SCYCA has been our largest 3D class site.
We are also working toward opening the 3D ThinkLInk Creativity Lab for use by the general public and we’re planning a new fundraiser that we expect will be quite lucrative for us as well as for one lucky raffle winner. Stay tuned for details in the new year.
There’s no need to wait to help us, though. We welcome contributions at any time of the year. Please click here or contact Operations Manager Juan Louro at juan.louro@youthquestfoundation.org or 703-234-4633.
YouthQuest’s dream is for all the young people we reach to become successful adults who give back to their communities.
That’s why Youth ChalleNGe Cadets in our 3D ThinkLink classes are required to complete a community service project. It’s why we’re training students to use their 3D printing, critical thinking and problem solving skills to serve their communities as Youth Mentors.
And it’s why we support the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition, which challenges teens to give back by solving problems in their communities.
The goal of the annual event presented by Loudoun Youth, Inc. and Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services is to encourage, support and reward teens in Loudoun County, Virginia, for making positive changes in their own lives and the lives of others. YouthQuest has been the primary prize money sponsor of the contest since 2012.
Judges listen to a team’s presentation at the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
Eighty teams submitted ideas last fall and 40 gave presentations during preliminary judging on March 27 at Trailside Middle School in Ashburn. Ten were chosen for the finals, held on April 5 at The Club at One Loudoun. More than two dozen local business and community leaders, including YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks, volunteered as judges.
The students choose the issues and develop the projects to address them, so Step Up gives adults a fresh view of the world through the eyes of the next generation of leaders. This year, the environment, physical and mental health, education, bullying and traffic were among the students’ concerns.
The topics often are a reflection of current events. After a year filled with news about hacking and other cyber-shenanigans, Kriti Ganotra from Broad Run High School came up with the idea for Call of Security. She earned the $1,000 top prize in the Step Up contest by developing a free device that detects computer network vulnerabilities.
Loudoun County is home to the East Coast’s version of Silicon Valley. Up to 70 percent of the world’s Internet traffic moves through data centers in the Dulles Tech Corridor, so a breakdown in Loudoun’s network can have widespread impact, Kriti explained in her presentation to the judges.
Kriti Ganotra presents her winning project, Call of Security, at the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition finals
Kriti went online to research vulnerability scanning systems and find open-source code, which she modified to create a program that checks for weaknesses in all devices connected to a router by wifi, even TVs and appliances. Then she tested her scanner against Nessus, a leading professional service.
“Nessus is a vulnerability scanner used by the DoD (Department of Defense) costing about $50,000 a year and I found out my machine actually performs better than Nessus,” Kriti said in an interview with Loudoun Youth.
“I want to bring it to Loudoun County, using high schoolers to create a community where everyone is educated about cyber-bullying, cyber-security, cyber-threats and technology,” she added. “I want to bring this to every single house and eventually patent this into something that we can develop all around the nation.”
This year’s $750 second-place project was inspired a different sort of technological threat — the potentially deadly mix of smart phones and Northern Virginia’s notorious traffic congestion. The Put It Down team of Freya Panchamia, Saumya Sharma, Paras Sarjapur and Iyush Hoysal from Eagle Ridge, Mercer and Stone Middle Schools targeted the dangers of distracted driving by encouraging people to sign a pledge not to text while driving. They’ve reached more than 200 drivers so far and plan to continue the project.
The Put It Down team was excited to be picked as one of 10 finalists
“We know that we’re making a significant impact on Loudoun County because we’ve reached out to many people and we’ve gotten many pledges,” said Freya.
The Clean Kits team of Palak Shah and Areej Khan from John Champe High School made it to the top ten last year and went home with this $500 third-place prize this time. They have provided personal hygiene and sanitary products for homeless women in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties and Washington, DC, since last year.
“The reason we chose to tackle feminine hygiene is because people are afraid to talk about it. People are afraid to donate these products because they feel uncomfortable buying them,” Palak said. “The thing is, these are simple products that all women need.”
The Every Voice Heard project won the $150 fourth-place prize. Isabelle Nikkho and Tammy Niyomtes from Harper Park Middle School, responding to a recent rash of teen suicides in Loudoun, created website to raise awareness about depression and suicide and provide resources. They also raised funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The remaining six finalists all won $100 prizes for their projects.
Be Me for a Day – Anna Nguyen from Broad Run High School created “day in the life” videos to help students and adults choose a profession.
Clean Up Beaverdam Creek Reservoir – Lacey Tanner from Rock Ridge High School organized cleanup events and raised community awareness about protecting the reservoir.
Environment Rescuers – Shiril Yedhara, Rajul Vadera, Mira Warries, Keerthi Dasoju from Rock Ridge High School raised awareness among local students of the global water crisis.
Loudoun Purity – Priyanshi Jeevagan and Ananya Gahlot from East Ridge and Stone Hill Middle Schools organized a 3K walk to raise money for hygiene kits for people at the Leesburg Homeless Shelter.
Personal Teach – Ari Dixit from Stone Hill Middle School created a program with a voice interface fpr the Internet to help students improve their scores on standardized tests.
UnSalted – Taylor Jackson from Riverside High School developed an app to help students reduce stress.
More than 80 players enjoyed a day on 
