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Student-Athletes Take Part in 'Young Heroes Day'

by Will Stafford (@WillStaffordLSU)
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Student-Athletes Take Part in 'Young Heroes Day'

BATON ROUGE – Seven LSU student-athletes recently took part during the 2014 Louisiana Young Heroes Day nearly one week ago on Wednesday, April 16, while spending the day with this year’s Young Heroes and also attending the 19th-annual Louisiana Young Heroes Awards sponsored by Louisiana Public Broadcasting and the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge.

Danielle Avery, Quincy Downing, Joseph St. Cyr, Katie Stevenson and Jenna Walker from the men’s and women’s track and field teams and Summer Clarke and Megan Lee from the women’s soccer team represented the University as part of this year’s Louisiana Young Heroes Day.

After meeting at the Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel, they accompanied the Young Heroes for tours of LSU’s Football Operations Center and Tiger Stadium before eating lunch at the Governor’s Mansion. That’s where the group was recognized by Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne before touring the Governor’s Mansion after lunch.

LSU’s student-athletes later rejoined the Young Heroes at the Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel for dinner followed by the banquet ceremony at the 19th-annual Louisiana Young Heroes Awards.

“At first, I thought this day was going to be about the student-athletes inspiring the Young Heroes,” Lee said. “But as the day went on, I realized it was more about the Young Heroes inspiring us. My favorite part during the day was when we got to hear about their stories and some of the struggles they had to overcome at such an early age. Some of the challenges we heard about on that night were truly tragic and there were a lot of teary eyes in the room. I was glad to have the opportunity to hang out with Caroline Beard (Lee’s Young Hero) and be inspired by her determination to overcome the struggles she has faced.”

Louisiana Public Broadcasting and the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge created the Louisiana Young Heroes Awards nearly two decades ago as a way to honor junior high and high school students from grades 7-12 in-state in their pursuit of excellence in the classroom, for serving their community or even demonstrating great courage in overcoming adversity in their own lives.

Students must be enrolled in a Louisiana school or home-schooled in the state and cannot be older than 19 years of age. Prior award winners are not eligible for future awards during the Louisiana Young Heroes Day.