Young Alumni Award Given to Joshua Bingham, Class of ’04

Harbor School is pleased to present a new award honoring the exceptional achievements of our young alumni. The Young Alumni Award will recognize one Harbor School alumnus each year for his/her outstanding dedication in a career profession, charitable endeavor, or global outreach effort. Harbor School’s faculty, staff and board of trustees wish to acknowledge the inspirational accomplishments of our growing alumni population (over 200 island youth have graduated THS) and honor those individuals who embody the school’s cornerstone values (compassion, respect, integrity, accountability, personal best, and responsibility) so strongly as to be an example for all of us.

At this year’s graduation ceremony on June 11, 2014, Joshua Bingham, Class of 2004, was presented with the 2014 Young Alumni Award. Fellow alum Genevieve Ferrari was on hand to honor Joshua and share his accomplishments with the graduation attendees. Joshua credits Harbor School’s travel study program with opening his eyes (and mind) and inspiring him to continue global pursuits long after he graduated in 2004. Those pursuits led him to Nepal where, as a volunteer at an orphanage, he was profoundly changed by the plight of Nepal’s homeless children. Last year, Joshua created Nana’s House, a non-profit organization created to help the underprivileged children of Nepal. Most recently, Joshua has been raising funds to purchase 15,000 sq. ft. of land in Nepal where Nana’s House children’s home will be built. Josh and Nana’s House were also the focus of an article in The Vashon-Maury Beachcomber earlier this year (Click here to read the article.).

All of us at Harbor School are very proud of Josh’s efforts. Josh’s journey and volunteerism in Nepal are wonderful reflections of Harbor School’s focus on Travel Study and Service Learning, and what we hope students will take with them after they graduate from THS and become citizens of the world. In addition to his award, Harbor School presented Josh with a check for $250 to support the land purchase.