IRIS is so happy to announce Andi Jashari from Kosovo as March’s Student of the Month!
Andi hit the ground running upon his arrival to Iowa in August 2015. He got involved in multiple clubs including youth group, Octagon Club and Interact Club and recently added soccer to his list of extra curricular activities.
Despite his busy schedule, Andi has also managed to volunteer over 100 hours of community service to the Salvation Army, the National Mississippi River Museum and built a ramp at a local veteran’s home.
Andi attends the Dubuque Hempstead High School in Dubuque, Iowa and has become extremely close with his host family and teachers. His teachers describe him as smart, friendly, curious, cooperative and helpful. Despite being an active participant in class, Andi enjoys sharing about his life in Kosovo and presented to over 100 people about his culture. Andi continues to do these presentations at his host family’s church and in class.
This past October, Andi was selected to attend the prestigious World Food Prize Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, Iowa. This conference hosts Nobel Prize laureates, international ambassadors and experts from various agriculture and engineering backgrounds.
“My favorite part was the dinner,” Andi said. “It just made me realize how everyone can unite against world hunger and really changed my perspective.”
To be selected, students had to submit a research paper detailing the factors leading to global problems and propose potential solutions on how to fix them. Andi wrote about Cameroon and its food insecurity.
With Andi being IRIS’s first student from Kosovo, he has really made us proud! Adding to the list of his proud supporters is his local coordinator, Rhonda Taylor.
“Andi’s good grades and hard work is only surpassed by his outgoing personality and wonderful sense of humor,” Rhonda said.