Life-changing literacy advocate. Developed grassroots reading initiative.
Publishing professional.  Launched quarterly children's magazine.
Brilliant bookworm.  High honors student and literacy competition champion.

Meet Emily Morgan.

A high school senior from Pennsylvania, Emily embodies the all-around high school student through community service, academics, and other achievements, and the Discus Awards is proud to recognize Emily for her excellence in and outside the classroom.

Emily is the winner of a National All-Around Student Scholarship, a scholarship for high school students presented to ten select Discus Awards Finalists each academic year. From among thousands of applicants and accomplishments in 10 attribute categories, a panel of judges has chosen Emily as the recipient of the $2,000 college scholarship.

The Discus Awards, a high school recognition 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.

Emily has helped children become passionate about reading through her grassroots initiative, worked with community businesses to publish a quarterly children's magazine, and excelled in her own academic studies, and the Discus Awards is proud to shine the spotlight on her.

		Community Service
		“A passionate literacy advocate, I have developed a grassroots reading initiative, How to Eat a Book, raising $24,000 to build six literacy centers filled with 1,700 new books, bookcases, journals, school supplies, floor cushions, Snuggies, learning games, and puzzles.” In addition to making so many books available to children, Emily developed and taught two free reading camps for two summers. She raised the money to support these camps through a raffle and a DoSomething Seed Grant. She has even created a website for her How to Eat a Book initiative, compete with a bilingual reading game.

		Academics
		“I have attained high honors every quarter for every year of high school, am a member of the National Honor Society and excel in competition in reading, winning 1st place for three consecutive years in a regional reading competition.” Emily has earned her tremendous academic marks by taking a challenging course load, complete with five Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Her academic pursuits expand beyond the classroom, as well. She was selected by her teachers to take part in a NASA research team and she also took an intensive architectural design summer course at Barnard College.

		Other Achievements
		“I use my writing talent to publish a quarterly children's magazine, Eat a Book!...The publication is free in schools, libraries, offices, stores, and laundromats!” Emily has taken a strong leadership role in creating her quarterly magazine. She taught herself InDesign and Photoshop so she could create a professional layout for the publication. She was then able to network with a professional marketing executive through DoSomething's Consulting Program to develop a marketing strategy to fund the production of the magazine. Additionally, she has worked with professional and student artists to provide illustrations, while children throughout the community are able to submit their own writing to be published.

Learn more about Emily and other Discus Awards Finalists