Helix Charter High Student Wins National Honor for Project to Aid Homeless People

La Mesa student Brayden Pape witnessed firsthand the havoc that the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked on San Diego’s homeless citizens and the organizations that support them.

The Helix Charter High School student, wanting to lend a hand in any way possible, did more than volunteer. He founded PATH Interscholastic Leadership Team (PILT), a student-driven organization supporting those without shelter in San Diego.

Now, Pape has received the $2,500 third prize in the Bill of Rights Institute’s national MyImpact Challenge for his efforts.

The Bill of Rights Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for teachers and students.

Through the civic engagement contest, the Bill of Rights Institute encourages students to develop service projects that benefit their communities and advance constitutional principles such as liberty, equality and justice. More than 400 students from across the country participated in this year’s challenge.

“It took courage to found PILT from the ashes of the pandemic — a mere idea that grew in response to a need,” Pape wrote in his MyImpact Challenge essay. “We do it because it needs to be done and because we know we can.”

Pape started PILT with a few friends from local schools in 2021. Today, the organization collaborates with 16 schools from five districts.

PILT provides hygiene products, first-aid supplies and food, among other services. The organization also has collaborated with other nonprofits, such as the YMCA, StandUp for Kids and People Assisting the Homeless (PATH).

David Bobb, president and CEO of the Bill of Rights Institute, said that the challenge is helping students apply their civic knowledge to connect with their communities and develop vital citizenship skills.

“Civic education should not be confined to the four walls of a classroom,” Bobb said. “Through MyImpact Challenge, students are putting their skills and knowledge to work to improve their communities, solve local problems and take the first steps toward a lifetime of civic engagement.”

The Bill of Rights Institute awarded nearly $40,000 in student and teacher prizes this year. In addition to Pape – three other Californians also won – other top prize winners included:

• Grand Prize, $10,000: Anna Kunkel, The Seven Hills School, Cincinnati, Ohio
• First Prize, $7,500: Sebastian Tan, Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, Penn.
• Second Prize, $5,000: Grace Liu, Syosset High School, Syosset, NY
• Honorable Mention, $1,500 (6): Alec Avedissian, Harvard-Westlake School, Studio City; Saheb Nibber, Sergei Kudriavtcev and Omar Reyes, Awty International School, Houston; Savina Wang, Arnold Beckman High School, Irvine; Madison Poulson, Mooresville High School, Mooresville, Ind.; Sailee Charlu, Orange County School of the Arts, Santa Ana, and Sanjana Senthil, Carroll Senior High School, Southlake, Tex.