Junior Board Update: Results of this year’s Junior Board competition and next year’s Execs

Freshmen Ella Yun, Katie Murphy, Kenna Harrington, Nina Yun and Sofia Wehner placed first in the final Junior Board presentation on May 4 as the only group of freshmen competing this year, winning $2,500 for their non-profit — American Stroke Foundation.

The seven other groups that participated in Junior Board this year will also be granted smaller sums of money to give to their organizations based on placement. 

Junior Board is a club where groups of students choose a non-profit to represent, then they research and contact their organization to create a presentation that is shown to judges who determine which group will earn money to donate to their chosen organization.

On April 27 and 29, the eight Junior Board groups shared the presentations they’ve been working on throughout the year to a panel of judges. By the end of the week, the Junior Board Execs announced the four groups that would be moving on to the final presentation on May 4 during seminar.

“Last year, [presentations] were virtual and that was kind of hard, but we were just glad that even with COVID we were able to have them in-person and have groups present in front of the judges, which I feel like is a better way for them to really connect with them and get across their point rather than just virtually,” Junior Board Exec and senior Shannon Burns said.

The team of juniors representing Happy Bottoms placed second, the seniors with Inclusion Connections came in third and the sophomores supporting Safe Home placed fourth.

The group representing ASF chose the non-profit because two of their members’ grandmothers had experienced strokes, and they thought an organization like ASF would be helpful for those experiencing similar situations. 

“Seeing from [my grandmother’s] struggles, this organization I could see how it could really help someone who’s going through the same things as her,” Murphy said.

ASF is an after-care facility for stroke survivors focusing on physical therapy, and social and emotional services rather than medical-based treatment. 

“It’s kind of like all around a community for stroke survivors to go and regain lost skills and confidence in themselves,” Murphy said.

Since ASF doesn’t turn anyone away, the money won will most likely go towards funding their scholarship program to help provide free care for patients that can’t afford the monthly fee.