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Heisman High School Scholarship
Vicksburg High School | Vicksburg MS SHA’KYRIA ALLEN
Cass City Jr and Sr High School | Cass City MI KYLIE McGRATH
Bandon Senior High School | Bandon OR DANIEL CABRERA
St. Paul High School | Shiner TX ASHLYN PESEK
Missisquoi Valley UHSD | Swanton VT CALEB PLOOF
Alex High School | Alex OK KONNER SHEBESTER
MEET OUR OUTSTANDING NATIONAL FINALISTS
The Heisman High School Scholarship was created in 1994 through a partnership between Wendy’s and The Heisman Trophy Trust. From its inception, the program has leveraged the reputation of the Heisman Memorial Trophy as a symbol of great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. The Heisman High School Scholarship program celebrates and rewards outstanding male and female scholar-athletes who understand that the most important victories happen not only on the field, but also in their schools and communities. Over the past 28 years, the program has honored more than 600,000 of the nation’s most esteemed high school seniors and provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in college scholarships to students, and more than a million dollars to high school academic and athletic programs across the country. The Heisman High School Scholarship program honors the nation’s most accomplished, community-minded high school senior athletes. By inviting male and female students from schools across the country to share their stories of leadership and impact, the program aims to inspire all students to harness their potential, push their limits, and use their talents not only to advance their own futures, but to improve the communities and world around them. The 2022 Heisman High School Scholarship National Winners are Viva Kreis from Belle Vernon Area High School in Belle Vernon, PA and Cameron Srivastava from Spartanburg Day School in Spartanburg, SC. The Heisman Trust is proud to celebrate Viva and Cameron. As we add their names to the list of our nation’s most esteemed high school senior athletes, we know that it is their leadership, their service, and their perseverance that set the example. We thank them for showing the way to all who aspire to reach their full potential and to make game-changing differences in our world.
Northgate High School | Newnan GA CHAD WHITE II
DEFINE YOUR OWN DESTINY
She has the will. She makes the way.
As a high school senior, Viva Kreis has already amassed a resume of accomplishments that rivals even the most ambitious of bucket lists. She’s hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, finished a half marathon, and traversed the Grand Canyon from North to South Rim. She’s attended WNBA games in all 12 markets and personally interviewed league players, coaches, and executives. She’s traveled and competed internationally with the USA Team Handball Team. Perhaps what’s most impressive is that none of these opportunities were handed to her. She’s had to relentlessly pursue each one. In Viva’s opinion, that has made each experience all the more rewarding.
“When I first discovered team handball in 8th grade gym class, I had no idea that in three years I would be representing Team USA while playing the sport in the World Championships,” she says. Despite being an underrepresented sport in the USA with limited opportunities to play in her area, and even through the challenges of the global pandemic, Viva kept finding ways to perfect her newfound passion while participating at the varsity level in three other high school sports. “I dove deeper into the USA Team Handball (USATH) organization, learning of the opportunity to serve on the Youth Advisory Council, where I now work to increase the exposure of team handball in the United States through USATH social media accounts.” In February 2022, Viva was one of just 16 athletes to make the USA Team Handball Junior National Team and has since had opportunities to compete at the Olympic level across the globe.
Viva is not done achieving major feats in sports. She will attend the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University where she plans to pursue her career goal of becoming a broadcaster for women’s sports. However, athletics is just one arena where she makes things happen. Academically, she’s at the head of her class. In her community, she not only participates, but she also initiates new programs wherever she sees an unmet need. She personally created a Sock-it-to-Homelessness drive, collecting more than 2022 pairs of socks for homeless veterans in the Pittsburgh area. In honor of a close friend who tragically passed away her freshman year, she organized an annual fundraising effort to raise awareness of suicide prevention. In these and all of her successes, Viva gives credit to the example her mom has set. As a single mother, cancer survivor, army veteran, lron Woman, and ultramarathoner, “My mom is my why,” she says. But Viva is ultimately responsible for the what, when, how, and where. “While my mom has enabled me to dream big dreams, I am the one who accomplishes them.”
VIVA KREIS
LEADING FROM THE HEART
Passion for community creates opportunities for all.
“I did not expect a ninth-grade science fair project to change my life,” says Cameron Srivastava. He elected to study heart valve disease because of his family’s history with cardiac issues. Specifically, his grandfather needed heart surgery, but was too frail to undergo it. Interested in exploring the options, Cameron’s project research uncovered a new medical procedure that could bring hope to people like his grandfather. But the data Cameron found pointed to inequity in access to the treatment based on race. “This inequality offended my sense of fair play developed in sports, and I made it a goal that everyone would be treated equally by our healthcare system.”
Cameron’s project earned him a win at the Region Ill Science Fair and allowed him to advance to the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). But he did not stop there. What he learned inspired him to advocate for health equity in his community. He began volunteering at Black churches and barbershops and giving speeches at community centers to raise awareness about new treatments. He founded a non-profit organization, Equity Starts from the Heart, to establish a coalition of community members, physicians, nurses, hospital leaders, pastors, politicians, and educational institutions to jointly address the issues. He published an abstract in American College of Cardiology on improving patient care processes. Through this journey, Cameron personally met with individuals affected by this work. “This volunteer experience changed my perception of science; behind each data point on a chart or graph is a person with a family who deserves to be treated fairly.”
Cameron plans to devote his career to research and medical advancement that will bring widespread benefit to all people. In the meantime, he will continue to strengthen the legacy of community he’s been instrumental in fostering at his school and beyond. His roles as captain of his sports teams, student body president, peer tutor, editor of the school newspaper, and member of the honor council give him unique opportunities to influence culture and create a spirit of unity on the field and off, which he believes propelled his cross-country team to become state champions. His leadership and influence reach well beyond the school through his participation in South Carolina Youth in Government, his efforts to extend voter registration drives throughout the county, and his role in the national political process as a volunteer during the 2020 Democratic primary. “I was taught that being part of a community means that family extends beyond the four walls of our house.” He already lives that lesson every day even as he looks toward a future where he can make an even greater difference.
CAMERON SRIVASTAVA
Spartanburg Day School | Spartanburg SC 2022 NATIONAL WINNER
