Discus Awards

Sally Jimenez, a senior in high school from Arizona and Discus Award winner, is the artist behind today's Winner Picture of the Day. However, just as amazing as the artwork is the story behind the artist. Knowing quite well that my storytelling abilities would not do her story justice, please read her essay for her Other Achievements attribute on her winner profile, a portion of which I've pasted below:

"I spent my childhood growing up homeless living on the streets without my mother or father. I managed to walk to school everyday and stay out of trouble. I stayed in a drug-infested environment and managed to not conform and fall into drug-addiction. I stayed focused on school because that's what has always been important to me. I will be the first female in my family to go to high school and college. I am also the only one in my family to never do drugs or go to jail or prison."

If your jaw isn't touching the floor yet, check out Sally's pencil drawn portrait, which is today's Winner Picture of the Day!

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

Music is unique in that it's one of the few things that everyone likes and connects to on an emotional level.  People like different genres of music, but I can't say that I've ever met someone who just flat out didn't like any type of music at all.  So, to celebrate the beauty and happiness music brings to our lives, I've compiled a collection of music videos submitted by talented Discus Award winners.  This is the first Music Monday on the Discus Awards Blog.  It could be the last, or it could be the first of many.  You'll just have to keep coming back to find out...

For your listening pleasure today, we're spanning the spectrum of musical styles and instruments. To get you started, let's stay contemporary with some R&B/hip-hop courtesy of Discus Award winner Tia Owens. Here is her song "Sweet Life" featuring Crooked I.

...continue reading

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

Nominate yourself or someone you know for a Discus Award!

The Discus Competition is kicking off the dress shoes, grabbing a towel, and putting on some SPF 50. Take a trip around the world, courtesy of some shutterbugs in the Discus Awards community. They've snapped gorgeous photos at beaches everywhere from Long Island to Spain, San Diego to Honduras, Newport to Vietnam, and beyond! Vote for your favorite beach picture by Friday, May 20th at 11:59a.m. ET and you can help one of these camera stars win a Discus Awards mesh bag!

Which beach photo is your favorite?
	Caitlin Maples - "Long Island Sound"		Phuong Ta - "Phan Thiet Beach, Vietnam"
	Delara Fadavi - "Crystal Cove, Newport Beach"		Kevin Yin - "Coronado Island, San Diego"
	Hannah Lee - "Love"		Samantha Litter - "Long Island Lighthouse"
	Jane Roberts - "Barcelona, Spain"		Preeya Bhakta - "Shining Rays"
	Jason van der Merwe - "Honduras"		Jessica Hale - "Wrightsville Beach, NC"

Filed under: Discus Dan • All-Around High School Students • Discus Awards Competition

For you pet owners out there, losing your furry friend is a nightmare that you wouldn't wish on even your most bitter enemy.  Sadly, a large majority of lost pets are never returned to their owner.  Enter Allie Woodhouse, high school sophomore from Texas and a '10-'11 Discus Award winner.  In the seventh grade, Allie founded an organization designed to help return lost pets to their owners.  In just 4 years, more than 150 lost pets have been returned to their owner through Allie's neighborhood-wide program.

Allie is now taking this show on the road, presenting to other communities in her area and educating them on responsible pet ownership.  She also helps these communities set up what she calls "pet registries," which is a database and email system that helps return the lost creatures to their owners.  As a result of this project and her other community service work, Allie was awarded the President's Service Award in both her freshmen and sophomore years.

Allie is also a star in the classroom, where she is a straight "A" student and ranked in the top 5% of her class.  Additionally, she is a star on her school's speech and debate team, and when you mold all these incredible activities together, you have the Discus Award Winner of the Day.  Congratulations, Allie!

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