“We prove that teenagers can do it. We show that we care about our community.” -Zenia Chaires, Sophomore at Buffalo Island Central High School

Coming from EAST Conference 2026, “Our Greatest Hits”, Buffalo Island Central High School extended their greatest hits into their community and received the Founder’s Award. Founder’s Award recipients are programs who showcase excellence in all three of EAST’s cornerstones: Student Growth & Engagement, Project Sophistication & Innovation, and Student Growth & Engagement. 

Throughout this year, each student in this program has grown in many areas including communication, professionalism, and determination. Utilizing their soft skills through community partner and peer based work, this program learned how to combine all of these skills to benefit the community through growth in the classroom. Their ability to be goal-oriented improved organization and follow-through of each project, emulating professional behaviors before the program’s students even graduate high school. While improving these life and leadership skills, they have also been given the opportunity to further their knowledge of technology. 

Henry Sills mentioned that he developed the ability to create a 360 Virtual tour of their local museum. With this, he had to learn DaVinci Resolve, with no prior experience using video editing software. 

Jaylen Campbell’s accomplished project, the BIC billboard, put into perspective the impact EAST has not only on the community but also the students. “I created BIC billboards, and I used illustrator to do that. I learned a lot from it. It made me proud.”

Cason Kifer recognizes those in the community who may be unrepresented: “People who are sometimes neglected but it's people who have some of the most valuable experiences that can be used in our world today, especially.” He extends his work to the nursing homes through developing sensory boards and automatic pill dispensers. 

One of the greatest hits of BIC EAST this year, filling all of the pillars of the Founder’s Award, was the Zombie Run Project.  The drama club hosts a zombie run to raise money for their club trip. EAST students collaborated with their community partner, Red Cross, and the drama club to further the community involvement of this event. Students from BIC not only collaborated with community partners but also connected with other school organizations through handouts at the Zombie Run. They raised awareness for Red Cross while supporting a good cause. 

Through their personal growth of leadership skills combined with their sophistication in technology, BIC EAST has displayed and excelled in all three cornerstone pillars: Student Growth & Engagement, Project Sophistication & Innovation, and Student Growth & Engagement. But, they also each have their own “Greatest Hit” of this year.

 
Zenia Chaires, 10th grade: “My greatest hit is the closeness in our program because of the projects we do.  It shows how each of us love EAST and are all dedicated to the same things.”

Aaron Jones, 12th grade: “My greatest hit was getting to enjoy EAST more and grow my confidence through that.”

Jaylen Campbell, 11th grade: “The billboard (I designed) was my greatest hit.”

Cason Kifer, 12th grade: “My greatest hit was how involved we were in the community this year. I really like the projects that are based in our community. I feel like that establishes a really good main for our EAST program because to almost feel like we’re really making an impact here.”

Austin White, 10th grade: “My greatest hit would be (mapping) the cemetery. We do work for the community and get to witness it in real time.” 

Henry Sills, 10th grade: "My greatest hit would be learning what's possible in this little EAST classroom. It’s incredible what’s possible with a couple kids and a little bit of determination.” 

Jill Sanders, Facilitator: “My greatest hit is seeing them, sitting here listening to them right now, gaining confidence in themselves and working with others. It’s the soft skills that EAST empowers students with. Technology will come and go but these kids aren't afraid to try new things. They look at their community with new eyes and see how they can help and can make things better.”