Discus Awards

My passion for service and helping others began when I was diagnosed with an under-jaw bite when I was starting middle school. Doctors projected that I would have major problems speaking and eating if it was not corrected by a costly surgery. Thankfully, I eventually had my under-jaw bite fixed.

But for all this time, I thought about all the kids who had the same difficulties as I did and those who could not even afford treatment. Soon I decided to join in the

Smile Train‘s mission to help raise funds for life-changing cleft-lip surgery for underprivileged children around the world. Funding 60 cleft surgeries and treatments for children around the world, we were able to provide each surgery for less than $250! After countless fundraisers and events, I had seen the power of youth to change the world.

Kids Change the World was founded in 2007 to improve the lives of children by mobilizing the caring power of youth to advance the common good. Since then, we have offered hundreds of youth-led ideas, groups, and charitable initiatives with action tools: website domains, mentors, and grassroots services. You, too, can even use our free action tools for your own community initiatives by getting started here.

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Filed under: Christopher Yao • All-Around High School Students • Meet the Discus Winner

The basis of my idea for a charity program started when one day, my mom was talking to me and said that my grandmother had glaucoma, an incurable disease that gradually closes in on the vision and slowly drives the victim to a devastating state of blindness. That very summer, I got glasses, due to slight power in both of my eyes. I had always had 20/20 vision, but suddenly, my eyesight deteriorated, and I became the first one in my family (at the age of 14) to get glasses. Afterwards, I thought about my aunt on my dad's side. When she was about seven or eight years old, she lost one of her eyes to an infection. My grandparents had neither the money nor the resources to go to an optometrist to save their daughter's eye. She had to have an operation, and her entire eye was taken out. Now, she has power in her remaining eye. Then it came to me. What about all those other adults and children in poverty-stricken areas of the world that do not have the financial support to get a needed eye operation? I suddenly felt the strong need to do something about it. The worst thing I could do was nothing.

In June of 2011, I got started. First, I put up a website to inform the public about the program which I named “Small Acts of Kindness". Next, I found my organization, which was Sankara Nethralaya, a non-profit organization situated in the USA. They collect money from any patrons and send it on over to Chennai, India, to supply poverty-stricken people with free eye operations. Then, I put together a group of 72 children, hence "Small" Acts of Kindness, to show India that people around the world have not forgotten their culture and that WE CARE.

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Filed under: Shruthi Prabhu • All-Around High School Students • Meet the Discus Winner

Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Gershwin, Leung.  These are the titans of the classical piano, but not all are created equal.  Sherman Leung is the only name on that list that has been recognized by the Discus Awards for all-around excellence, in his case, for achievements in technology, arts, and faith.

In today's Winner Videos of the Day, Sherman pays homage to two of his classical peers: Beethoven and Chopin.  The first video, Sherman's performance of Beethoven's Sonata in C#, begins 24 seconds in.  Warning: Your face may be melted by Mr. Leung's skills.  Then, don't miss Sherman's encore of Chopin's Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor.  Enjoy!

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Filed under: Discus Dan • All-Around High School Students • Discus Award Winner Video of the Day

Ralph Macchio, move over, there's a new Karate Kid in town.  Her name is Stephany Kim, she's a Discus Award winner for her achievements in academics, work, and athletics, and she's a one-girl wrecking machine.  In the words of 1970s funk singer Carl Douglas, Stephany's kicks are "fast as lightning".  Lucky for us, someone who had a camera with a fast shutter was able to snap a picture of Stephany in action.  This picture of Stephany's high-flying athleticism was taken at the 6th Worlds Taekwondo Championships in Vladivostok, Russia, where she placed 8th among 40 countries.

Filed under: Discus Dan • All-Around High School Students • Discus Award Winner Picture of the Day

Editor's Note: Sophie Hollingsworth is a 2011-2012 Discus Award winner from Florida who has founded a non-profit organization, AquaAid International, Inc., that aims to provide safe drinking water for communities in the developing world.  Sophie was kind enough to share her experience through this guest blog post.  For more information on AquaAid International and how you can get involved, please visit the AquaAid Blog or e-mail them at aquaaid.international@gmail.com.

It started with an invitation, a debutante invitation to be specific. I was honored to be considered by an assemblage of notable women; however I was drawn to an alternative more in keeping with my spirits: to be a debutante or to donate the funds required for debutante participation to an organization serving humanity. For me the decision was clear. In the course of researching organizations to donate to, the idea of starting my own nonprofit was born.

I decided to provide safe drinking water for communities in developing nations without access to potable water; I established AquaAid International, Inc. to do just that. I had always known about the global water crisis; however, not until I spent time in Bahía Honda, Panamá did I truly understand the importance of the liquid so many of us take for granted.

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Filed under: Sophie Hollingsworth • All-Around High School Students • Meet the Discus Winner