Ashley Blais—an Olympia’s Leader of Belfast Area High School—was the Senior Representative of the Institute’s graduating class of 2021.
For her presentation, she wrote, composed, and performed an original song inspired by the program.
It is called, “We Matter,” embedded below, and streaming on all major music platforms.
During the Year End Celebration at which this song debuted, Ashley received a Sharon Y. Miller Leadership Award and $2,500 scholarship.
This award was created and named in honor of the Chair of the Institute’s founding Board of Directors, to celebrate students using their values and voice to positively influence their school community.
In addition to Ashley’s accomplishments within the Institute, she ranked first in her class all four years of high school, was named Valedictorian, served as Secretary of the National Honor Society, was a Student Council representative, acted as a Peer Leader, participated in the Maine Youth Leadership program, was accepted into All State Choir junior year, and received several scholarships and awards.
She will be matriculating to Husson University and New England School of Communications (NESCOM) to study Audio Engineering with a concentration in Live Sound and certificates in Music Production and Post Production.