By: Layla Westbrook, EAST Student Contributor

EAST Conference is an exciting, life-changing experience for everyone involved; for a select few, it is an opportunity unlike any other.

For many years, EAST has awarded programs with the Founder’s Award, a prestigious accomplishment that represents fulfillment of the three EAST cornerstones: project sophistication and innovation, community and collaboration, and student growth and engagement. Calico Rock High School received a Founder’s Award this year, and their students had the opportunity to celebrate their achievement at EAST Conference. Addisyn Lemon, Thomas Hood, and Nolan Erkman spoke on their experiences.

“It was really fun! We felt like celebrities. We got there and everything started coming together, and it became more than just an award we won. I felt like we made more of an impact through Founder’s,” Addisyn said. 

Project sophistication and innovation is one of the cornerstones of EAST, and Founder’s winning programs like Calico Rock embody that. Through their many successful projects this year, Calico Rock showed great innovation in their projects.

“Sometimes a project turns into a new project, or other projects branch out from that,” Addisyn said. “We worked with the zoo to make a dry bar for reservoir bags, and we ended up putting the hangers that we used in classrooms for kids to put their hats on. Projects can turn into bigger projects.”

Community and collaboration, another cornerstone essential to program success, is also well developed at Calico Rock. Their program made many successful partnerships this year that greatly benefitted both their program and their community.

“We’ve made meaningful connections this year with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Little Rock Zoo. The zoo was really branching out for us; we usually don’t go that far out,” Thomas said. “Staying in contact with them the whole time helped keep it flexible. We sent emails, we got answers back, and that really shaped the project.”

“When you make a project with partners, your impact is just growing and growing. It’s just an everlasting cycle of helping people,” Addisyn said.

Student growth and engagement, the final cornerstone, focuses on equipping students to be skilled leaders in their communities. Addisyn, Thomas, and Nolan experienced significant growth this year through EAST.

“Going on stage at EAST Conference was a big milestone, because  I’d never done anything like that. It prepared me for future public speaking,” Addisyn said.

“Being a Champion in my own EAST community, having to manage what other people are doing as well as my own stuff, was a little crazy, but there was a lot of growth involved in it,” Thomas said.

“I learned lots of programming, like 3D printing and LEDs. Last year, before I was in EAST, none of those skills seemed even possible. I think this first year has grown me a lot,” Nolan said.

Growth is a long-term process, especially in EAST, where projects are often developed over the course of months and years. EAST Conference was created in part to celebrate the moments, big and small, where growth is evident. The Founder’s Award allows students to have big moments, and those opportunities are instrumental to their growth. 

“The moment right before we were about to go on stage, I realized that no matter how scared I was, we were going forward,” Addisyn said. “Once I did it I was so proud. It taught me that sometimes you just have to push yourself through, even if you’re scared.”