MANDEL CENTER FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
RECOGNITION - OUTSTANDING YOUTH SERVICE AWARD
2009 Recipient of the Outstanding Youth Service Award
Emily Weatherhead
Hawken Upper School, 11th Grade
Emily founded Spot the Checkerspot, a program aimed at restoring the habitat of and educating people about the Harris Checkerspot butterfly. For much of the project, she has partnered with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. This partnership has enabled her to present her program information to teachers at a Cleveland Museum of History open house, create brochures and ID booklets for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's traveling curriculum kits, and co-author a proposal to the Ohio Division of Wildlife to change the Checkerspot's status from stable to endangered. In addition to working with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, she has worked with Hawken School, Lindsey Elementary School, and The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes to plant flat-topped asters (the only plant the Checkerspot will eat) and give educational presentations to younger students. She has also obtained several grants to support her work. Irene McMullen, Emily's advisor and nominator, states that "She [Emily] believes that if more young people were to get involved with any kind of cause that interested them, not only would they be helping their community or the world at large, they would also be helping themselves".
Congratulations, Emily!