Youth Salute
As a part of our involvement in youth and leadership, Hills Bank has sponsored the Youth Salute Leadership Awards for over 30 years. Youth Salute is a program of the National Council on Youth Leadership (NCYL) and 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.
2026 Winners
Erin Chen (West High) and Colin Wehrle (West High), Elaine Anderson (Liberty) and Caedyn Huston (Mid-Prairie), John Galvez (Liberty), Adelyn Huston (Mid-Prairie), Eyad El-Fadil (West High), Taleen Rahhal (West High), and Endrit Ramku (West High), Quinn Brende (City High), Naomi Downing-Sherer (City High), Joseph Hayek (City High), Vidya Kumar (City High), Kobe Dobesh (Clear Creek Amana), Kendall Jones (Clear Creek Amana), Kane Axmear (English Valleys), Ava Gehrking (English Valleys), Ava Miller (Hillcrest Academy), Clara Frank (Liberty), Ava Stalzer (Liberty), Maelys Beachy (Mid-Prairie), Ava Willems (Mount Vernon), Trey Streb (Regina), Nora Wilhelm (Regina), Jerzey Haluska (Solon), Emma Horak (Washington), Blaine Rees (Washington), Cassandra Swisher (West Branch), Kavya Bhatt (West High), Raya Gupta (West High), Aaron Kang (West High), Kento Sugiyama (West High), Davin Harper (Williamsburg), and Quincy Klingner (Williamsburg).
2026 Participants
| School | Students |
|---|---|
| City High | Quinn Brende; Ziggy Cates Evans; Stella Demarest; Naomi Downing-Sherer; Eleanor Fraga; Hattie Galloway; Joseph Hayek; Aurora Jeddeloh; Elise Jespersen; Vidya Kumar; Anna LaLumiere; Rosella Light; Max Lynch; Celeste Miller; Zoee Noble; Marcus Reisman-Megeff; Lucas Robertson; Nadia Spragg; Henry Vande Berg; Martha Willard |
| Clear Creek Amana | Elise Berry; Adeena Bila; Scarlett Brecht; Gus Cabrera; Payton Curtin; Kobe Dobesh; Kendall Jones; Brooklyn Merten; Carley Nash; Oliver Petrulevich; Rose Piehl; Hailey Robertson; Sasha Robinson; Bailey Simpson; Evelyn Stewart; Ryan Weber; Courtney Williams |
| English Valleys | Benjamin Axmear; Kane Axmear; Ava Gehrking; Kaylynne Hoylman; Mallory Koehn; Kailor Lown; Colton Mikesell; Jack Osborn; Ellie Patterson |
| Highland | Marissa Chalupa; Mary Clair; Owen Eden; Mallory Fesler; Riviera Foley; Issac Giesmann; Alexa Hahn; Ciarra Healy; Brock Nebergall; Addison Pantel; Landon Roling; Jacob Schneider |
| Hillcrest Academy | Kale Bailey; Isaac Beachy; Addison Miller; Audrey Miller; Ava Miller; Cohen Nachtigall; Marie Yoder |
| Iowa Valley | Hayden Kanke; Chandler McKibben; Jasmine Slaymaker |
| Liberty | Elaine Anderson; Morgan Bennett; Harlow Bucheit; Joseph Buckwalter; Ava Casey; Tayson Cho; Alison Dill; Shalom Djinadou; Jeffrey Edwards; Olivia El Abiad; Colin Finch; Clara Frank; John Galvez; Aila Hamann; Lars Hildebrand; Allie Hunter; Smriti Jaishy; Jaimie Johnson; Vivian Kahler; Emily Liu; Jenner McMorris; Ava Meidlinger; Emerson Miller; Molly Miller; Annabelle Pedersen; Ryan Shileny; Austin Smith; Ava Stalzer; Sydney Van Heukelom; Chelsea VeDepo; Abby Watters; Jessica Wellington |
| Lisbon | Payton Curtis; Leila Mayhew; Hallie Ries; Jenna Ries |
| Lone Tree | Olivia Magruder; Addison McCullough; Carlee Sexton; Rylie Viers; Cole Walmsley; Chase Williams; Jackson Wulfekuhle; Abigail Zaruba |
| Mid-Prairie | Maelys Beachy; Morgyn Bender; Eli Conrad; Gabrielle Geno; Adelyn Huston; Caedyn Huston; Maxwell Kipp; Tommy Miller; Marissa Parks; Taylor Pence; Sophia Puttmann; Brooklyn Schneider; Jack Sorrell; Brooklyn Stutzman; Olivia Swartzendruber; Maxon Swartzentruber |
| Mount Vernon | Lillian Hotz; Beckett Johnson; Carie Johnson; Chloe Lynner; Chester Rood; Luke Rushford; Reagan Slaymaker; Anna Stephens; Avri Trumblee-Looney; Jackson Voight; Eastin Whisner; Ava Willems; Jonathan Winkler |
| Regina | Abigail Bame; Kyla Bell; Finn Boyle; Carter Carolan; Corbin Daniel; Adynn Goldsmith; Adalee Klein; Kylie Mattoon; Kaleb Moeller; Lilianne Nibaur; Leah Sickels; Trey Streb; Nora Wade; Nora Wilhelm |
| Solon | Simon Einwalter; Macy Fuller; Jerzey Haluska; Piper Johnson; Tanner Kerkove; Miranda Simison; Brady Wick |
| Washington | Fletcher Brower; Tyler Burroughs; Kendall Conway; Layla Green; Colbie Greiner; Emma Horak; Ethan Hotchkiss; Aliza Hoyle; Blaine Rees; Lucy Sands; Cate Schiefer; Sydney Stouder; Layla Swift |
| West Branch | Ava Burnett; Harper Driscoll; Eli Farmer; Grace Hamman; Shay Kinsinger; Lyla Popkes; Olivia Schlitz; Cassandra Swisher; Victoria Vikel; Grace Vincent; Emma Wolf |
| West High | Lea Abou Alaiwa; Faizaan Ahmad; Jake Beneke; Kavya Bhatt; Erin Chen; Shannon Chen; Xinyu Chen; Eyad El-Fadil; Melanie Glykys; Aahana Gupta; Raya Gupta; Ella Haim; Waleed Haroun; Boyd “Neil” James V; Aaron Kang; Ella Krupp; Abigail Lee; Sharon Liao; Gracie Liu; Mingmei Lumetta; Fortunate Mindja; Weam Mohamed; Josie Nabhan-Warren; Lamis Nogdalla; Ellison Ortiz Broeder; Uniah Palmer; Lillian Polgreen; Taleen Rahhal; Endrit Ramku; Samantha Scheetz; Olivia Scott; Moss Stutsman; Kento Sugiyama; Lily Tentinger; Colin Wehrle |
| Williamsburg | Rogan Ackerman; Valerie Altenhofen; Kaylin Becker; Davin Harper; Ava Hocker; Sawyer Kirby; Quincy Klingner; Emily McGovern; Lilly Ness; Samuel Parsons; Taylor Sanchez; Cameron Schulte; Keston Spratt |
Display Schedule
| Dates | Location |
|---|---|
| 9/14-9/21 | Iowa City - Muscatine Ave 2621 Muscatine Ave |
| 9/21-9/28 | Iowa City - Gilbert 1401 S Gilbert St |
| 9/28-10/5 | Iowa City - Downtown 201 S Clinton St |
| 10/5-10/12 | Hills 131 Main St |
| 10/12-10/26 | North Liberty - Forevergreen 590 W Forevergreen Rd |
| 10/26-11/2 | Kalona *Highland, Hillcrest Academy, Lone Tree, Mid-Prairie, Washington |
| 10/26-11/2 | Mount Vernon *Lisbon, Mt Vernon, Solon, West Branch |
| 10/26-11/9 | North Liberty - Zeller *City High, Clear Creek Amana, English Valleys, Iowa Valley, Liberty, Regina, West High, Williamsburg |
| 11/2-11/9 | Wellman *Highland, Hillcrest Academy, Lone Tree, Mid-Prairie, Washington |
| 11/9-11/16 | Williamsburg 200 W State St |
| 11/16-11/23 | Washington 2481 Hwy 92 E |