The National 4-H Council has announced that two Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Loudoun 4-H members, Kashvi Ramani and Pranav Kalidindi, are among the twelve finalists selected for the 2024 National 4-H Youth in Action award. The 4-H Youth in Action Awards recognize 4-H’ers who have overcome challenges and used the knowledge they gained in 4-H to create a lasting impact in their community.
Kashvi Ramani is being recognized for her efforts to build a diverse and inclusive world through tools of self-expression. Pranav Kalidindi is being recognized for his commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) innovation and sparking change in his community.
Ramani, 17, seeks to empower youth to address societal inequalities and racism through poetry, webinars and workshops, giving youth a path to initiate difficult conversations. Targeting societal needs, Ramani is a member of Mending Walls, an organization focused on creating murals expressing hope, peace and self-growth. She also created LoCo Parenthesis, a countywide initiative designed to stimulate appreciation for poetry among young people and encourage creative expression to tackle difficult topics. She is also the 2022 Youth Poet Laureate of Virginia.
Kalidindi, 15, serves as President of the 4-H Innovation Club and a STEM Ambassador for Virginia. He addresses community needs such as the environment and mental health through innovative approaches in STEM. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kalidindi created a stress relief app to detect, predict and reduce stress, and a posture monitor to help prevent spinal issues. He also created an air quality monitor and a pH sensor for detecting impurities in drinking water, which have impacted both his hometown and a village in Kenya.
About VCE Loudoun 4-H
4-H is the youth development education program of Virginia Cooperative Extension, which focuses on development of life skills. More than 176,000 young people between the ages of 5 and 19 participate in Virginia 4-H activities each year with the help of over 15,000 adult and youth volunteers. Virginia Cooperative Extension is an outreach of Virginia Tech and Virginia State Universities.
Anyone who would to learn more about VCE Loudoun 4-H may contact Loudoun 4-H Extension Agent Carly Wright at 703-777-0373 or by email. More information about 4-H, including how you can join a club, is online at loudoun.gov/4-H.