AAPS: Pioneer freshman Izzy Sutton honored with a national service award
Pioneer freshman Isabel Sutton, 13, has been named an honoree of the 2022 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Each year, the Barron Prize celebrates 25 inspiring young leaders—15 top winners and 10 honorees—who have made a significant positive impact on people, their communities, and the environment.
This year’s Barron Prize honorees were selected from more than 500 applicants across the U.S. and Canada.
Izzy has raised nearly $8,000 for environmental causes by selling handmade eco-friendly
products. She also raises awareness of the need to reduce plastic consumption. Through her JustIZZY
initiative, she designs biodegradable bracelets and ornaments and donates proceeds to nonprofits such
as wildlife rescue centers. She affixes each handmade piece to a recycled card printed with information about the benefitting organization and a reminder to Use Less Plastic. Izzy grew up conducting frog surveys and monitoring bluebird nesting boxes. When she learned in fifth grade that plastic pollution was killing albatross, she created a slide show to alert her classmates to the plastics problem. That led to petitioning her school to use less plastic – and that grew into asking the School Board and city officials to ban single-use plastic water bottles at school functions. Izzy recently asked the governor to place limits on Michigan’s overall plastic consumption.
The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T. A. Barron and named for his mother, Gloria Barron. Since then, the Prize has honored more than 500 young people who reflect the great diversity of America. All of them demonstrate heroic qualities such as courage, compassion, and perseverance as they work to help their communities or protect the planet.
“Nothing is more inspiring than stories about heroic people who have truly made a difference to the world,” says T. A. Barron. “And we need our heroes today more than ever. Not celebrities, but heroes – people whose character can inspire us all. That is the purpose of the Barron Prize: to shine the spotlight on these amazing young people so that their stories will inspire others.”
