Discus Awards

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 • Winner of the Day

Trent Borman is an expert at macro photography. What is macro photography, you ask? Well, Trent explains, "My favorite kind of photography is "macro" photography which is generally photos of flowers but also of bees and other insects. I enjoy the fine detail it provides." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Check out more of Trent's "flower fotos" after the jump!

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

Today's Winner Video of the Day comes courtesy of Gabrielle Olivas and her melodic voice, with a side of her Bach-like piano-playing abilities. I have a source that tells me this Lady Gaga character is going to be a popular musician in the near future. Call us crazy, but we think Gabrielle will follow right in Gaga's footsteps. Don't call my name, don't call my name...

For more on Gabrielle, the all-around high school student, visit her winner's profile.

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

Jason van der Merwe, the February 2011 Discus Scholarship recipient, is a talented artist with his own local photography business. He snaps shots for both work and pleasure, and he's even donated his services for charity events. In this post, you will find the thumbnails and corresponding descriptions of Jason's favorite pictures from his 10+ years behind the lens. View the full gallery at Jason van der Merwe's Photo Gallery.

1) Egyptian Boy - This young boy was the helping hand on the Felucca, an Egyptian sail boat, that my family and I took a short trip in. We visited Egypt for almost two weeks, traveling all across the country. This image is especially special to me because I can see the despair and lack of hope in the boy's eyes. The captain of this vessel explained to us that the government cared nothing for its people. He hated living there, but had no hope to escape it. I could already see the beginnings of a revolution, and this was three years ago. Now, as we see Egyptians rising up, fighting for freedom, I think back to this moment. A moment of mixed beauty as I watched the sun disappear over the horizon.

2) Captain Arthur - This boat resides on the peaceful shores of Honduras. I visited Honduras in the summer of 2009, spending time on the mainland as well as Roatan, a small island just off the coast. The experience was incredible; it was the first time I had visited a country in Central America and this opportunity meant I could utilize my Spanish. Honduras is a beautiful country and I encourage everyone who is able to visit and explore both the resort side, and the country itself.

3) Lincoln Memorial - I have traveled to many all over the world, but one of my favorite places remains Washington D.C. As an immigrant from South Africa, I am honored to call myself an American now. DC is the icon of American freedom, a symbol of hope and democracy. It is full of rich history and I love visiting. This photo was taken last summer when I visited DC to compete in National History Day. The competition schedule left me with a lot of free time, so I spent several days walking around the city by myself, taking photographs of many great structures. Unfortunately, it was cloudy the entire time, but I found an opportunity to use the weather to my advantage. I turned the photo into black and white. I managed to capture the high dynamic range, so this photo looks antique, but modern. Very little editing was actually done on it. It remains one of my favorite photographs.

4) A Glorious Graveyard - This is photo of a Native American cemetery in Taos, New Mexico. My trip to New Mexico occurred directly after my Washington D.C. trip. This was a wonderful vacation. My family and I basically drove around New Mexico, exploring the many natural wonders in the state. As a photographer, this excursion was fantastic. The scenery that I captured was amazing and breathtaking. New Mexico is a fascinating and gorgeous state and I will never forget climbing on the red rock, hiking down into giant canyons and hiking up into a volcano, then immediately descending into an ice cave.

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

Nominate yourself or someone you know for a Discus Award!

The April 2010 Discus Competition features an array of impressive artwork created by Discus Award winners. For a brief description of each piece, click on the "Continue Reading" link underneath the poll. You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge the image and get a better look at it before you vote for your favorite. 

The voting period will end on April 17th and the winner will be announced on the Discus Awards Facebook page the following week!

Which Discus Award winner's crafty creation do you like best?
	April McCreary's "Midnight Sun"		William Freitag's "Miniature Army"
	Megan Schlenker's "Thomas the Monkey"		Yana Nikolayeva's "Surrealism"
	Cina Catteau's "The Beatles"		Connor Ludwig's "Bird"
	Katy Hutto's "Pensive Young Man"		Christie Evenson's "Ice Skates"
	Seongwoo Lee's "Heart of America"		Scarlett Correa's "Glass Menagerie"

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