$5000 David and Kathy Harrison
2024 Searsport District High School
“Concern means being concerned for others, not just thinking it’s all about me.”
Diagnosed at an early age with dyslexia, Ian has become an advocate and mentor for other students with the same diagnosis. As a shy and nervous middle schooler, he experienced significant bullying and teasing about his learning disability. As he came to terms with his LD, he found his inner strength and learned to self-advocate. He shares the tools he has learned with other students and seeks out students who look and feel like outsiders.
Boy Scouts have played a vital role in his life. His Eagle Scout project involved rehabilitating a 7000sf interior courtyard at his high school. It is notable that Ian was entrusted with a key and full access to his high school to enable him to complete the project over the summer months.
Ian is engaged in his school and local community in many ways, including the robotics program, where he has become the person others on the team look to with questions or for assistance. As a freshman he learned the video and recording systems for the theater program. Working on his own with the district IT personnel, he learned the entire sound and recording system, eventually designing the lighting and sound for every show, including state competitions.
As a senior Ian took on an independent internship where he was partnered with an underclassman helping an elementary class with a birding project. This evolved into the development of a local birding trail and twice weekly nature walk with fourth graders. For the project he produced and edited video that was used to promote the program to the community, school board, and other students. An alliance was formed with the local business community to promote the birding trail and in turn encourage more tourism in the area.
Ian will attend Husson University to study Computer Information Systems.