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Alumni Spotlight: Jayson Kimberly, 8th grader at Montgomery Junior High and founder of Leave it for the Pooch

Lone Star Leadership Academy alumnus Jayson Kimberly, an 8th grader at Montgomery Junior High in Montgomery ISD, is making headlines with his Leave it for the Pooch service project, now it its third year. What started as a local service project requirement for Jayson's participation in Education in Action's Lone Star Leadership Academy Alumni Council has grown to reach many of our 50 states and even other countries!

This summer, Jayson started collecting t-shirts from animal shelters and rescues with a plan to wear a different t-shirt to school each day this year to raise awareness about the number of shelters and the need to adopt and spay and neuter pets. To date he has received 284 shirts from all over the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Zimbabwe! He requested two shirts from each organization; one he will wear to school, the other Cupcake Quilts is making into quilts which he will auction off to benefit the organizations that provided the shirts. Because the response has been so positive, he now plans to wear a different shirt every day through high school!

The Houston Chronicle, August 26, 2019: Facebook users can't wait to see Houston-area teen's next animal shelter T-shirt

ABC 13 Eyewitness News, August 20, 2019: 13-year-old gets presidential praise for leading projects for pets

Fox 26 News, August 9, 2019: Montgomery County teen to wear animal shelter t-shirts throughout the school year to raise awareness

And this is only the most recent iteration of Jayson's Leave it for the Pooch service project! In his first year, Jayson collected more than $3,000 to help pay medical bills for sick animals through his "Pennies Four Paws" coin drive. In his second year, Jayson raised $1,200 to purchase pet food for pets of Meals on Wheels' clients through an "Animeals" donation drive. And all of this is in addition to the ongoing collection and distribution of items shelters and rescues need that he manages through his very active Leave it for the Pooch Facebook page where you can also follow his daily posts of the shirt he is wearing to school each day!

We love to watch our Lone Star Leadership Academy summer camp alumni fly! Keep up the great work, Jayson! We are so proud of you and all you are doing!

Lone Star Leadership Academy summer campers learn about, and are challenged to implement, a new leadership skill each day at camp. The last day of camp, they focus on "Action". "How will you apply your leadership skills when you get home from camp? What will you do to make a difference?" Campers are invited to join the Lone Star Leadership Academy Alumni Council to exercise their leadership abilities through service. Through online leadership lessons they learn how to combine their passion and talents with a need in the community to make a positive difference through leadership and service. Seventy-two Lone Star Leadership Academy alumni completed service projects as members of the 2018-2019 Lone Star Leadership Academy Alumni Council.

Jayson was nominated to attend the Lone Star Leadership Academy camp as a 4th grader by his teacher, Ms. Lorra Lynch, at Montgomery Elementary School. Jayson attended all three Lone Star Leadership Academy summer camps, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin/San Antonio, and Houston/Galveston! Education in Action invites Texas educators and community leaders to nominate outstanding 4th-8th graders for Lone Star Leadership Academy summer camps! Fall nomination deadline for summer 2020 Lone Star Leadership Academy camps is November 1, 2020.

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