Caitlyn Rich
- Twain Harte, California
- Summerville Union High School
Following a violent shooting threat at her high school, Caitlyn proved herself a school leader by creating Giving Trees to help address the fear, concern, and anxiety of her peers, as well as staff and parents. These Giving Trees were placed in the center of her school’s campus and contained paper varying in color to represent different themes. Caitlyn used yellow to symbolize hope and happiness, red to symbolize love and strength, blue to symbolize unity and trust, and orange to symbolize thankfulness. The student body had the opportunity to select quotes from the trees that related to their emotions and also share their own thoughts with their peers. Caitlyn was selected to deliver a speech at her school assembly to further help ease tensions and encourage students to move forward. She is the reporter and layout designer for the school newspaper, the Associated Student Body Treasurer, and the yearbook editor.