FARMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL- SREENIDI (SREE) BALA NAMED RECIPIENT OF THE PRINCETON PRIZE IN RACE RELATIONS & PRUDENTIAL EMERGING VISIONARIES
Sreenidi (Sree) Bala has recently been named the recipient of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, which recognizes and rewards a select number of high school students who, through their volunteer activities, have undertaken significant efforts to advance racial equity and understanding in their schools or communities. Sree is a junior at FHS who is passionate about learning and will have taken 7 AP Courses by the end of her junior year. Beyond being an exceptional student Sree is heavily involved in the FHS community in multiple capacities. She has been the Class of 2025 secretary all 3-years of her high school career, along with being the President of the Multicultural Student Union and member of the Social Justice Council. Sree is an intern for the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, along with volunteering for Power of Peace, a nonprofit organization founded to eradicate hunger and promote peace. Sree has been working with the students in SLC Classroom since she was in fifth grade and has created a curriculum at Farmington High School for these students to open up possible career pathways for life after high school and at large be more proficient in technological life skills.
Recently, Sree was also named one of the 25 winners of the Prudential Emerging Visionaries program and will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Prudential headquarters in Newark, NJ to continue to grow her project, Code for All Minds.
SOCIETAL PROJECTS CATEGORY:
“Code For All Minds,” is a free computer science program for neurodivergent students that provides educators and families with a curriculum to make STEM career paths a possibility for young people with learning disabilities. Growing up, Sreenidi’s best friend had autism, so she often helped in her school’s Special Learning Classroom. “Despite students’ talents and verbal abilities, all of them were being prepared for careers in labor-intensive industries; there were no STEM opportunities available,” says Sreenidi. This realization started her on the journey to create STEM resources that use learning strategies best suited for students with autism.
Prudential Emerging Visionaries is sponsored by Prudential in collaboration with Ashoka, a leading organization in the social impact sector, with advisory support provided by the Financial Health Network, a leading authority on financial health and a longtime partner of The Prudential Foundation. The program is an evolution of Prudential’s Spirit of Community Awards, which honored more than 150,000 outstanding youth volunteers over 26 years.
