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Red Cross to trilingual news: Hoover USA names $5,000 winners
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 24, 2014


Caleb Hoffman picked up one balloon and said it represented a student who “applied himself” and took challenging science, technology, engineering and math courses.


The Muscatine senior then placed it over a burning candle in a jar, saying the candle represented difficult problems he would face in life and work.

The audience of the 17th annual Hoover Uncommon Student Award watched as the candle inexplicably extinguished itself, and Hoffman left the balloon sitting atop the jar, a bit scorched but still intact.

Hoffman held up a second balloon, saying this one represented the student who did not apply himself, who instead took easy courses in school.

When he placed this balloon over the candle, the balloon quickly popped and pieces scattered across the stage.

After his presentation, a reporter asked how he did the balloon trick.

“You have to take science classes to figure that out,” Hoffman replied.

The Muscatine High School senior and 14 other high school students each took turns on the Figge Auditorum stage in the Hoover Library-Museum Saturday, explaining their projects in detail to a panel of judges and the audience.

Key to each project was sustainability. The judges wanted to know not only if the project succeeded in measurable ways, but if the students succeeded in establishing their project in perpetuity.

At the end of the day, the judges selected three among the finalists for the $5,000 scholarships: Lucia Ruppert, Erica Ramirez and Lexington Kennard.

Ruppert, of Roosevelt High School, is a daughter of Sundie and Brad Ruppert of Des Moines. Her project, “The Adventures of Lucy and Lulu,” centered around authoring an adventure book on the tales of a young Lucy and her stuffed giraffe as they travel with Lucy’s parents, who volunteer with the Red Cross. The primary purpose of the book was to to encourage children to volunteer.

Ramirez, of Columbus Community High School, is a daughter of Carlota and Melchor Ramirez of Columbus Junction. Her project, “Cultural Connections: The Bridge Project,” pushed to encourage communication between neighbors with a trilingual newspaper publishing articles in English, Spanish and Hakha Chin.

Kennard, of Ankeny High School, is a daughter of Mary and Wayne Kennard of Ankeny. In her project, “Teens Against Human Trafficking,” she developed a curriculum to raise awareness to fight modern-day slavery.

Uncommon Student Award Alumni Board of Directors then announced the winner of the Mariah Becker Volunteer Leadership Award: Jean Van Marel.

Van Marel, of Sheldon High School, is a daughter of Dean and Amy Van Marel of Sheldon. Her project is called “Glimpse of Change,” and collected, organized and tested the prescriptions of more than 1,000 pairs of glasses for distribution throughout Kenya in hopes of changing their lives through improved vision.

Shalini Raichur, also of Muscatine High School, said getting in front of the judges was “a little nerve-wracking.”

“But I have a passion for my project and I was able to overcome,” she said.

Raichur had visited Haiti and learned how many children are born at home because clinics are far away and travel is difficult over the rough terrain. She also learned that very few children have much to call their own, so she and her friends made tie blankets for hospitals to hand out to families of newborns.

“My blanket was so important to me,” Raichur said. “It gave my comfort and security and helped me get through the night. … A blanket is warm, dry or a snuggle item (for the Haitian children).”

She said the judge’s questions after her presentation were “good,” and she was ready for a question on funding her project. But she was not expecting the question of sustainability nor how her and the Muscatine Youth Choir got involved with a hospital in Haiti, though she was able to give answers to both.

Hoffman said he was ready for the questions posed to him about his project “Helping Students ‘Catch a Vision’ for their Future.”

“I was prepared and knew the information and I was excited to answer, especially about continuation,” he said. “That was really cool.”

Other projects:

• Emma Baker of West Liberty High School, daughter of Sandee Buysse-Baker and Kevin Baker of West Liberty, “Summer Reading Program for At-Risk Readers,” aimed at teaching third- through fifth-graders struggling with reading proficiency.

• Ashly Brown of Louisa-Muscatine High School, daughter of Stacy and Brett Samuels of Letts, “Hope from Within,” which collected basic-need items and self-help books for the Muscatine Domestic Violence Shelter.

• Catelyn Graham, Grinnell Newburg Community High School, daughter of Jeri and Tom Graham of Grinnell, “Intergenerational Relationship Enrichment,” getting youth service organizations to interact with the elderly to help fight age-related depression, stroke and diabetes.

• Miranda Liebsack of North High School, daughter of Melanie and David Liebsack of Sioux City, “Stay Strong and Carry On,” developed an inspirational video to help victims cope with bullying and boost self-esteem.

• Ankur Parupally, Linn-Mar High School, son of Sandra and Kavi Parupally of Marion, “Walter Filtration Education,” a project to help small villages in India produce clean drinking water at low cost.

• Paige Plate of Nevada High School, daughter of Kevin and Christy Lingenfelter, “Painting Our Town,” which helped create works of art throughout her town with the help of volunteers and donations.

• Riley Ries of Vinton-Shellsburg High School, son of Paul and Karilea Ries, “Operation BackPack,” which sends home shelf-stable, kid-friendly and healthy foods to needy families.

• Megan Slattery of Calamus-Wheatland Secondary, daughter of James and Peggy Slattery of Wheatland, “Putting Mockridge Back on the Map,” which pushes preservation of a 75-acre wildlife preserve and its three-mile trails system.

• Elliott Suiter of Johnston High School, son of Chad and Julie Suiter of Johnston, who designed a 400-watt turbine and posted the plans online to show others how to create clean energy.