One of the ways the YouthQuest Foundation encourages young people to be creative thinkers and problem solvers is by supporting the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition.
This is the fourth straight year we have provided the prize money for the contest, in which middle school and high school students from Loudoun County, Va., develop projects to address issues they believe are important in their community. The goal is to encourage, support and reward the youth of Loudoun County for making positive changes in their own lives and the lives of others.
Twenty-seven teams presented their projects to a panel of judges on March 19 at the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building in Ashburn.
“I was very impressed. These kids are real go-getters,” said YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks, who served as one of the two dozen judges for the first time this year. He praised the students’ passion for their chosen issues, which included education, homelessness, bullying, sexual assault, stress and depression, diversity, traffic safety and health.
The $1,000 grand prize went to Charitable Act, which provides summer theater camps for underprivileged children. Hannah Ratcliffe founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to “share her love for theater with the world.” Hannah and her Briar Woods High School classmates Kelsey Clark and Allison Ball wowed the judges with a presentation that featured a little three-part harmony and lots of enthusiasm.
Amina Bukasa from Virginia Academy took the $500 second-place prize for her Define Yourself project, which aims to boost young women’s self-esteem with activities that celebrate their inner and outer beauty.
Robab Newbury and Rohan Arora from J. Michael Lunsford Middle School earned third place and $250 for LOUDOUNHEALTH, a project that provides online information about health and diseases for the people of Loudoun County.
Winners of the fourth- through seventh-place prizes will get $200 and $100 will go to the eighth-, ninth- and tenth-place teams.
The top 10 teams will be honored at a reception on March 26, where they will talk about their winning projects and receive their prize money. A full list of winners and their projects will be available on the Loudoun Youth website.
