Educate Youth

The Belanger-Cushman award is being created to honor graduating seniors for personal growth throughout their high school career. It was given to Educate Youth by Emily Belanger to honor her mother who was a teacher, then a guidance counselor for over 30 years. 

When Jane was a counselor, she saw that most of the end-of- year awards went the kids who got good grades, excelled at sports, etc. Many of them had always excelled, sometimes without much effort or commitment. She saw a need to honor the kid who had grown the most, academically and personally, over the four years.  

They could be someone who had climbed their way from D’s and F’s to C’s, someone who had been suspended time after time to someone who came to school every day and did the work. She said that those efforts were often harder than those at the top. 

So, every year, with her own money, she would give the kid who had grown the most over the 4 years a crisp, hundred dollar bill (remember this was the 80’s), and the biggest, fluffiest teddy bear she could find at the toy store. She would present the money and the bear at the annual end-of-year award ceremony. 

On a walk around Matthaei Gardens, her daughter, Emily, was telling Gail about her mother and had the idea of continuing the award for the graduating class at Educate Youth. When Gail responded with the enthusiastic thoughts of her kids, Emily was happy to amend the award to include all the graduating seniors with an award of $250 (which coincidentally is close to what that 1980’s $100 would be worth today.)

What does it mean to grow like a proud tree from a tiny seedling?

What many don’t ponder are the different phases of growth, especially during the years that one grows most intensely—adolescence and the journey towards earning one’s high school diploma. In this time of growth, there are three primary forms: personal, emotional, and of course, academic growth. For high schoolers the most important form of growth should be on the journey to graduation. However, in order to grow academically, there must be growth in other aspects as well.

One place that students must exhibit growth in order to complete high school is fault acknowledgement. When someone constantly blames others, whether they are at fault or not, they miss opportunities to grow. Once individuals are able to take responsibility for their actions, they not only begin to grow, but are able to move past these instances having learned a valuable lesson.

Another trait that shows growth is leadership. A true leader is capable of being thoughtful, which  includes looking at things from other perspectives regardless how different that perspective may vary from theirs. They must be encouraging and have the understanding that you never truly know what someone else is going through. Leaders display character traits of selflessness, patience and empathy, as well as self-motivation and drive. Finally, leaders are self-aware and able to acknowledge both their privilege and misfortunes, while also not allowing those things to cloud their judgment.

Educate Youth Students, 2023