Youth & Education Programs

Community Reading Month
Hills Bank Leadership Grant
Youth Salute Program
Summer Reading Programs
Programs in Partnership

Community Reading Month

Community Reading Month is celebrating its 22nd anniversary with the help of its sponsors — Hills Bank and Trust Company, the Iowa City Community School District Foundation, and the Iowa City Public Library. The 22-year partnership has provided a variety of events supporting literacy for all ages in our communities.

Join us for book talks with featured speakers who will talk about their favorite reading! View the 2009 Community Reading Month Book Talk schedule and be sure to take part in the fun!

View the recommended books from our Book Talks.

• Prairie Lights Book Talks
• Iowa City Public Library event

Hills Bank Leadership Grant

Eligibility

High School Juniors residing in or attending high school in the following counties:

• Benton • Iowa • Jones • Linn • Muscatine
• Cedar • Johnson • Keokuk • Louisa • Washington

Grant Details

Grants are available to students attending any of Iowa’s accredited colleges, universities, or community colleges. Each grant totals $2,000 with $500 to be paid each semester of the qualifying recipient’s first two years of college. A total of 20 grants will be awarded each year.

Selection Criteria

Applicants are evaluated on involvement in:

• Community service
• Student group activities
• Work experience
• High school academic information, including G.P.A. of 2.80 or higher

Participation

Recipients of this grant, applying during their junior year of high school, agree to attend a minimum of nine hours of Hills Bank sponsored Leadership Training during their senior year of high school.

How to apply:

1. Complete the application.
2. Submit a high school transcript.
3. Provide two letters of recommendation.

For complete details and an application visit www.extension.iastate.edu/4H/grants.html or contact:

Iowa 4-H Foundation
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-3630
Phone: 515-294-1537
Fax: 515-294-1047

Youth Salute leadership awards presented to local seniors

Area high school seniors were recognized with Youth Salute leadership awards, sponsored by Hills Bank and Trust Company, Sunday, September 13th at the Englert Theatre, Iowa City. Over 190 students from 16 area high schools including City High, Clear Creek-Amana, English Valleys, Highland, Iowa Mennonite, Iowa Valley, Lisbon, Lone Tree, Mid-Prairie, Mount Vernon, Regina, Solon, Washington (IA), West Branch, West High, and Williamsburg were honored for their academic achievement and leadership contributions. Students were selected by their high school faculty to receive the prestigious award.

The ceremony included an address by Charlie Wittmack, a trial lawyer and adventurer known for surviving a remarkable 2003 ascent of Mount Everest, after spending days without food or water. Charlie draws on his experiences as an adventurer, father and trial lawyer, to motivate and maximize his audience’s potential.

Young Seol, West High, and Sonya Zhu, West High, were recognized as the Outstanding Youth Leaders. Each will receive the opportunity to attend the Town Meeting on Tomorrow, an event that brings together youth leaders with diverse backgrounds from across the nation. The students will gather in St. Louis at Washington University in October. Other local leadership award winners included Kristin Canning, Lisbon; Megan Cannon, Mount Vernon; Janelle Erwin, Washington; Christiana Fairfield, West High; Jessica Faselt, Mid-Prairie; Jerry Gao, West High; Bethany Harms, West Branch; Rebecca Hoy, Solon; Lindsey Kramer, Solon; Ogi Kwon, West High; Michael Lipman, West High; Rebecca Long, Regina; Tom Mlynarczyk, Mount Vernon; Kathryn Moore, Clear Creek Amana; James Morris, Solon; Mary Mysnyk, West High; Vince Rhodes, Iowa Mennonite; Chris Robertson, City High; Jamie Scott, Iowa Valley; Taylor Sedlacek, Mount Vernon; Kayla Sproul, Solon; Aaron Swailes, Highland; Matt Tvedte, City High; Katherine Valde, West High; Aishwarya Vijay, West High; Patrick Weeks, West High; Hanna Wilson, Mid-Prairie; Nick Wilson, West High.

Youth Salute is a program of the National Council on Youth Leadership (NCYL) and is locally sponsored for the fifteenth year by Hills Bank and Trust Company. The NCYL is guided by the vision of making tomorrow’s world better by developing leaders today. The council’s mission is to assist communities to applaud, encourage, and provide opportunity for the leadership development of their youth.

View a complete list of Youth Salute participants.

Summer Reading Programs

Hills Bank provides staff and financial support for summer reading programs in twelve communities: Cedar Rapids, Clear Creek-Amana, Coralville, Hiawatha, Iowa City, Kalona, Lisbon, Marion, Mount Vernon, North Liberty, Riverside, and Solon. These programs encourage youth to read and explore their local library.

Programs in Partnership

Hills Bank annually participates in numerous programs throughout the local schools and community organizations. Involvement includes not only sponsorships, but also taking an active role in the education process. Examples include: America Reads program, where our staff volunteers to read in the classroom; Junior Achievement; Newspapers in Education; R.A.P. (Read Along with Partners); and Banking 101, which teaches junior high students about managing finances. Hills Bank employees are available to visit schools and provide an educational experience for students.

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