World leader. Co-founded global non-profit.
Environmental leader.  Drove student-led green initiative to reduce emissions.
Class leader.  Valedictorian despite challenging course load.

Meet Dylan Mahalingam.

A high school junior from New Hampshire, Dylan embodies the all-around high school student through his community service, green, and academics, and the Discus Awards is proud to recognize Dylan for his excellence in and outside the classroom.

Dylan is the winner of the May 2012 National All-Around Student Scholarship, a scholarship for high school students presented to one select Discus Award winner every month of the academic year. From among thousands of Discus Award winners and accomplishments in 10 attribute categories, a panel of judges has chosen Dylan as the recipient of the $2,000 college scholarship.

The Discus Awards, a high school recognition and scholarship program honoring students who excel in and out of the classroom, looks beyond grades, test scores, and win-loss records and recognizes students for their multi-dimensional talents and passions.

Dylan has improved the quality of life for children across five continents, reduced energy costs and carbon emissions within his community, and excelled academically within the walls of his high school, and the Discus Awards is proud to shine the spotlight on him.

		Community Service
		“I co-founded Lil' MDGs, a non-profit based in New Hampshire, when I was 9 years old. Based on my efforts to mobilize youth from 41 countries to work together to forward the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), I was invited to be a youth speaker for the United Nations.” The initiatives of Lil' MDGs have spanned five continents and included building a school in Uganda serving 500 children, an orphanage in India serving 50 children, a mobile hospital in India serving 800 families, and a library in Uganda serving 9,000 children. Also, as chief strategist for Under the Acacia, Dylan has helped raise funds to build two schools in Kenya. Dylan was recognized as one Teen People's "20 Teens That Will Change the World".

		Green
		“I began with children in our school district on a a project called "Green Your Lives” which was a student-led initiative dedicated to educating the students and school community on going green and putting their knowledge into action. The goal was to promote greener lifestyle choices which results in a reduction of energy costs and carbon emissions.” Over the life of the project, Dylan helped reduce paper output by 30%, promoted the use of 100% recycled paper, set each printer in the school to print double-sided, powered down classrooms and computers when not in use, and improved recycling in the cafeteria. For his work, Dylan has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and President Obama with the President's Environmental Youth Award.

		Academics
		“I was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society in middle school and I was inducted into both the National Honor Society and National Foreign Language Honor Society in high school. I was invited to become a member of the National Society of High School Scholars for my academic achievement.” What do all these organizations see in Dylan, you ask? Well, Dylan is the valedictorian of his class, despite taking challenging Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses. Dylan has delivered TEDxTeen talk, and in the spirit of recent sporting events, he won his school's spelling bee just a few years back. Dylan has received recognition from The Most Rev. Dr. Desmond Mpilo Tutu, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the United Nations, as well as by three U.S. Presidents. Suffice it to say, Dylan is an outstanding, well-rounded student.

Learn more about other Discus Awards winners