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National Honor Society Recognizes W.Va. Senior For Organization, Advocacy Work

A smiling high school student with glasses. Male.
Colin Street is a senior at Morgantown High School and one of twenty nationwide finalists for a $25,000 scholarship.
Courtesy National Honor Society
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The National Honor Society announced $2 million in scholarships for students nationwide on Monday, and one of the finalists to receive its biggest award is from West Virginia.

Colin Street is a senior at Morgantown High School and one of twenty nationwide finalists for a $25,000 scholarship. 

Street has done advocacy and organizing work for both the American Legion’s Boys State, where he has served as a senator representing West Virginia in mock-Senate programs, and is a co-founder of his school’s Sexuality and Gender Acceptance Initiative, which has worked with the ACLU to provide gender-affirming care to transgender youth.

“We’re looking to obtain a 501(c)(3) status through the IRS and get incorporated with the state of West Virginia,” Street said. “But right now we’re just focusing on building a solid base in our community.”

According to a 2017 study by UCLA, it was estimated that West Virginia has the most per capita transgender youth in the country at just over one percent. 

He’s also done work as president and a coach for Mountaineer Area Robotics, a local robotics team.

Street is planning on studying environmental science and public policy in college, and said he’d like to use that knowledge to give back to his home state.

“North Central West Virginia and the state at large, these are the people and communities that built me into the person I am today,” Street said. “And I want to make sure I can give back and provide those opportunities that I had and more to the future generations of West Virginia.”

Street will be honored in Washington, DC as part of the National Honor Society’s leadership week next month, where the national winner will be recognized. As a finalist, he has already earned more than $5,625 in scholarship money.

Two semi-finalists were also announced by the National Honor Society: Meredith Romanek, from Wheeling and Jenna Tuttle from Berkeley Springs. As semi-finalists, they earned $3,200 in scholarship money.