Lugar Leadership Award Goes to Local Senior

INDIANAPOLIS — Franklin Central High School student Jasmine Kalia has been selected to receive this year’s Richard G. Lugar Distinguished Student Leadership Award, presented annually to an Indiana high school senior by the Lugar Academy at the University of Indianapolis.
A varsity tennis player on track to be valedictorian of the Class of 2016, Kalia will meet the former senator and Nobel Prize nominee Dec. 5 at UIndy’s 39th annual Richard G. Lugar Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders. The event enables top high school juniors from around the state to hear a keynote address from Lugar on world events and to join in expert-led group discussions on pressing public issues.
Kalia, daughter of Vipin and Sangeeta Kalia, was among hundreds of Indiana students who attended last year’s symposium and were invited to apply for the leadership award, which includes a $1,000 cash prize. The recipient must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and demonstrate leadership skill and a commitment to serving others.
Kalia is a member of National Honor Society, president of Franklin Central’s World Cultures Club and head coach and programmer for the school’s Auto Flashes VEX Robotics Club, which she has supported with fundraising efforts. She was nominated for the award by the club’s faculty sponsor, physics teacher Richard French III.
More information on the Richard G. Lugar Academy and the Lugar Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders is available at www.uindy.edu/lugar.