NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, 50 student-led middle and high school teams have been selected as winners of the sixth annual Lead2Feed Challenge. The top five teams have each earned a $10,000 grant for their school’s nonprofit of choice and a $2,000 technology award for their school. The student-project contest was developed from the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program, the nation’s leading, privately funded student leadership program, free to the over 5,800 educators in schools and clubs across all 50 states.
Lead2Feed’s leadership lessons align with 21st century skills to encourage students to develop leadership, literacy and teamwork by completing service learning projects. The lessons work in tandem with classroom curriculum and are then applied as students form teams to brainstorm and create programs to address a specific need in their local community or globally. Across the country, teams have worked to address issues such as hunger, social justice or mental health.
In a survey conducted by Lead2Feed, 91 percent of Americans agree that students are more successful in school when they are able to practice their leadership skills outside the classroom. Co-Founder, former CEO and Chairman of Yum! Brands, and leadership expert, David Novak inspired the program. Lead2Feed was developed by the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning and the Lift a Life Foundation. From the student-led projects submitted for the Lead2Feed Challenge, 50 total teams were selected based on the leadership, innovation and impact students demonstrated to address an important need in the community.
The five grand prize recipient teams are:
- Code for Change - Carmel High School, IN
- CTRL - Fair Grove High School FBLA, MO
- Food for Peers Anonymous FCCLA - Babb Middle School, GA
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Lifesavers - The Phoenix School of Discovery, KY
- Odessa High School FBLA - Odessa High School, WA
This year, Lead2Feed also named a special award recipient for their students’ work during the last five years.
The No More Stalling team from Design and Architecture Senior High in Miami, FL will receive the “All In for Social Change” award that includes a $5,000 grant for their nonprofit partner and $1,000 technology award for their school. These students kept the five-year tradition of finding unique solutions to global problems in their local community.
The Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program is also awarding $5,000 charitable grants and $1,000 technology grants based on the outstanding works of the following teams:
- Centennial FBLA - Centennial High School, OR
- Lawton High Ignition Mentors - Lawton High School, OK
- Snack Society - Grassfield High School FBLA, VA
- SVYC Make a Difference Squad - Sky Valley Youth Coalition, WA
- C.R.U.S.A.D.E. - Mercy Academy, KY
- FCCLA T-Bird Transformers! - Mohave High School, AZ
- Ike Ignition - Eisenhower High School, OK
- Jenouri’s Battle Brigade - Jay M. Robinson Middle School FBLA, NC
- Team 343 – 9/11 Stair Climb for NFFF - JP Taravella High School DECA, FL
Additionally, $2,500 charitable grants and $1,000 technology grants will be awarded based on the outstanding work of the following teams:
- A.I.M Assisting and Inspiring Minds - Mercy Academy, KY
- Coral Reef Senior High School - Coral Reef High School FBLA, FL
- Difference Makers - Bushland High School FCCLA, TX
- ECHS FBLA - East Coweta High School, GA
- Fostering Hope - Benson High School, AZ
- Grants High School FCCLA - Grants High School, NM
- Spartan Avengers - Lakewood High School FBLA, FL
- Think Different - FL Schlagle High School, KS
- We are Silent for Empty Bowls - Elizabethtown High School, KY
- Wolves for Others - St. Francis Episcopal Day School, TX
For a full list of winners, please visit here.
“Leadership cannot be measured by traditional academics only,” said David Novak. “Hands-on work with the community is a missing piece of the leadership gap we see in many schools today. Lead2Feed helps close this gap by fostering the development of leadership skills in classrooms and beyond.”
“Our Lead2Feed students have honed their leadership, project management and teamwork skills,” said Diane Barrett, Executive Director of the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, Inc. “We have seen the results of students’ efforts in many communities that are inspiring. We are so proud of our Lead2Feed students and their accomplishments.”
Complete rules and details on the Lead2Feed Challenge are available at: http://www.lead2feed.org/how-to-participate/project-submission-rules/
To watch the action, get involved and learn more, follow Lead2Feed:
- Web: http://www.lead2feed.org
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lead2Feed
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeadtoFeed
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/leadtofeed
- Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/leadtofeed/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead2feed-student-leadership-program/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lead2feed
About Lead2Feed
The Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program was created by the Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning and the Lift a Life Foundation to encourage middle and high school students to hone leadership skills by completing a service project around a community need and involving a public nonprofit.
About Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning
The Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, a non-profit organization, supports and builds alliances that enhance innovative, instructional programs and community outreach by providing the resources to educators to promote new opportunities and participation. FILL is a supporting foundation to the International Literacy Association. The foundation welcomes participation in efforts to engage, enlighten and inspire today’s students and educators by opening their classrooms to the real world. The Foundation seeks funding from other foundations, private companies and organizations to help provide educational programs for elementary and secondary schools, community colleges and/or programs in specific disciplines or curriculum areas. The Foundation works with interested parties to collaborate on the creation of an educational program that promotes literacy and learning. Fillprograms.org
About Lift a Life Foundation
The Lift a Life Foundation was established in 1999 by David and Wendy Novak. The mission of the Lift a Life Foundation is to help those in need achieve their full potential with the goal of funding innovative, high impact projects that are led by passionate leaders who are committed to outstanding execution. The foundation focuses on grant funding in the areas of student leadership development, juvenile diabetes, hunger relief, early childhood education and military family support. Since Lift a Life Foundation began, it has helped thousands of people in need through grants and programming support. David Novak is the Co-Founder, former CEO and Chairman of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies with nearly 43,500 KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in more than 135 countries and territories. A renowned expert on leadership and recognition culture, Novak is the author of three highly respected and critically acclaimed books, The Education of an Accidental CEO, the New York Times bestseller Taking People with You as well as his latest parable, O Great One! A Little Story About the Awesome Power of Recognition. David has been recognized as “2012 CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive magazine, one of the world’s “30 Best CEOs” by Barron’s, one of the “Top People in Business” by FORTUNE and one of the “100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review. In April 2015, he received the prestigious 2015 Horatio Alger Award for his commitment to philanthropy and higher education and became a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. He is the recipient of the 2012 UN World Food Program Leadership Award for Yum! Brands World Hunger Relief effort that raises awareness, volunteerism and funds to address this global problem. He received the national 2008 Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. He is currently the founder and CEO of the digital leadership platform, oGoLead.com.
David is committed to developing future leaders. Adapted from the leadership principles of his book Taking People with You, he funds a leadership program for middle and high school students: Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program. Lead2Feed is the nation’s leading and fastest-growing free leadership program, attracting more than a million students in 5,800 schools and clubs across all 50 states.
Wendy Novak is a lifelong philanthropist and volunteer. She serves on the advisory board for the Wendy Novak Diabetes Care Center. http://liftalifefoundation.org/
