5 First State teens named national leaders

This year’s Delaware Bank of America Student Leaders will participate in a volunteer program at the Food Bank of Delaware.

Five Delaware teenagers are being nationally recognized for their leadership.

In its 20th year, the Bank of America Student Leaders program recognizes 300 community-focused juniors and seniors from across the country.

This year’s selections from the First State are:

• Rujula Borkar: the rising senior at the Charter School of Wilmington leads the school’s Girls Who Code Chapter, acts as a peer tutor for math and English classes and participates in a wide variety of volunteer activities, including the American Red Cross and Amnesty International. She is a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
• Ashwika Musku: the rising senior at Newark Charter School is an active volunteer with the Bear Library, Food Bank of Delaware and Charity Crossing, and a peer tutor at her high school. She is also an instructor at CodeNinjas, a teacher assistant at Salangai School of Performing Arts and a fellow in the iCivics Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship program.
• Haasini Potluri: the rising senior at Tower Hill School participates in Student Council and acts as a club leader for Model UN. She frequently volunteers with the Food Bank of Delaware, as a Telugu language teacher, as a student leader for the Youth Environmental Summit and with HOSA Fusion.
• Raye-Lee McDonald: recently graduated from Thomas McKean High School, she was president of her school’s Student Government Association and National Honor Society. McDonald founded and led the Hydroponics Club at Thomas McKean High School and was captain of the Varsity Cheerleading team.
• Danielle Walters: recently graduated from Mot Charter High School, she served as the president of Future Medical Professionals of America Club and as the director of communications on the Engage for Change Volunteering Club. She is currently a youth board member on the New Castle County Youth Planning Board.

The five will participate in an eight-week paid summer internship connecting students to employment, skills development and service.

Through this experience, they’ll gain practical work and leadership experience, as well as receive financial education coaching from Bank of America’s Better Money Habits curriculum.

This year’s Delawareans will participate in volunteer programming at the Food Bank of Delaware where they’ll hone those workforce and leadership skills.

Jarek Rutz

Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.

Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz