DOVER—
The St. Thomas Aquinas High School Lux in Tenebris (“Light in Darkness”) Award is established to give recognition to a person of the St. Thomas Aquinas High School community who has made significant, enduring contributions to humanity in keeping with the ideals and mission of St. Thomas, specifically with respect to service and sacrifice. These contributions are primarily seen as activities that promote the welfare of humankind, especially through the alleviation or elimination of pain and suffering and toward seeking a just world. Nominees who made significant, enduring contributions to humanity at the cost of personal risk and/or sacrifice are particularly considered for this award. The humanitarian activities may form a lifelong pattern or be expressed in a single, widely noted occurrence.
This year’s recipient is Gregg Hayward, St. Thomas Aquinas graduate from the class of 2000. Following St. Thomas, he attended the University of New Hampshire where he studied business. While at UNH, he became involved with a budding compost program on campus. This pilot project was part of the newly formed Office of Sustainability Programs at UNH. This program aimed to collect food scraps from dining halls on campus, and instead of tossing it in the landfill, have these scraps biodegrade into a rich soil called compost, which could help grow healthy local plants and foods. During Gregg’s two years of involvement with the program, it expanded to all of the dining halls on campus, and has since been adopted and run by UNH’s hospitality service. After graduating from UNH, Gregg worked for a season at a commercial compost operation in Burlington, Vermont called the Intervale. There he learned more about composting on a citywide scale, as the Intervale processed food waste from hundreds of businesses and restaurants in the area.
The following spring, Gregg began his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He spent two years serving as a Linking Income Food and Environment volunteer in the Southern African country of Zambia. Gregg’s primary work was in conservation agriculture development, so he taught a lot about composting, agro-forestry and animal husbandry, but also spent a significant portion of time on clean water and sanitation issues, and HIV/AIDS education. He became a part of the community and helped his new neighbors form and train three sustainable development groups. These groups helped start tree nurseries, improved beekeeping, as well as conservation farming practices in the area. He also laid the groundwork and helped secure funding for the digging/implementation of 12 drinking water wells in the area he worked. Gregg and many Peace Corps volunteers will tell you that they feel like they got far more out of the experience than they felt like they could provide to the community. He also fondly remembers many an experience where friends who had very little, would go out of their way to make you feel welcome, cared for and appreciated. What they may have lacked in material possessions, they made up for in community. The whole experience makes one look at our world through a very different perspective. Gregg found Zambia, and much of Africa to be an incredible place with very many fantastic, hard working, loving people.
Upon returning from Zambia, Gregg spent a year and half in the local area, doing marketing for Foster’s Daily Democrat. He then headed West on a road trip with his Dad out to Oregon, where Gregg now lives. Gregg spent a year as an Americorps volunteer working on a school-based recycling and compost program just across the river from Portland in Clark County, Washington.
Recently, Gregg was hired on by the local waste hauler, Waste Connections, to work as a Waste Reduction Specialist, working with the community and schools to help reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill. He continues to educate students about composting, and strives to empower the community to take action to help our environment.
The Lux in Tenebris Award will be presented at the St. Thomas Aquinas High School graduation ceremony on June 6 at noon.
Photo caption: Gregg Hayward is the winner of this year’s Lux in Tenebris award, given by St. Thomas Aquinas High School. (Courtesy photo)
The St. Thomas Aquinas High School Lux in Tenebris (“Light in Darkness”) Award is established to give recognition to a person of the St. Thomas Aquinas High School community who has made significant, enduring contributions to humanity in keeping with the ideals and mission of St. Thomas, specifically with respect to service and sacrifice. These contributions are primarily seen as activities that promote the welfare of humankind, especially through the alleviation or elimination of pain and suffering and toward seeking a just world. Nominees who made significant, enduring contributions to humanity at the cost of personal risk and/or sacrifice are particularly considered for this award. The humanitarian activities may form a lifelong pattern or be expressed in a single, widely noted occurrence.
This year’s recipient is Gregg Hayward, St. Thomas Aquinas graduate from the class of 2000. Following St. Thomas, he attended the University of New Hampshire where he studied business. While at UNH, he became involved with a budding compost program on campus. This pilot project was part of the newly formed Office of Sustainability Programs at UNH. This program aimed to collect food scraps from dining halls on campus, and instead of tossing it in the landfill, have these scraps biodegrade into a rich soil called compost, which could help grow healthy local plants and foods. During Gregg’s two years of involvement with the program, it expanded to all of the dining halls on campus, and has since been adopted and run by UNH’s hospitality service. After graduating from UNH, Gregg worked for a season at a commercial compost operation in Burlington, Vermont called the Intervale. There he learned more about composting on a citywide scale, as the Intervale processed food waste from hundreds of businesses and restaurants in the area.
The following spring, Gregg began his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He spent two years serving as a Linking Income Food and Environment volunteer in the Southern African country of Zambia. Gregg’s primary work was in conservation agriculture development, so he taught a lot about composting, agro-forestry and animal husbandry, but also spent a significant portion of time on clean water and sanitation issues, and HIV/AIDS education. He became a part of the community and helped his new neighbors form and train three sustainable development groups. These groups helped start tree nurseries, improved beekeeping, as well as conservation farming practices in the area. He also laid the groundwork and helped secure funding for the digging/implementation of 12 drinking water wells in the area he worked. Gregg and many Peace Corps volunteers will tell you that they feel like they got far more out of the experience than they felt like they could provide to the community. He also fondly remembers many an experience where friends who had very little, would go out of their way to make you feel welcome, cared for and appreciated. What they may have lacked in material possessions, they made up for in community. The whole experience makes one look at our world through a very different perspective. Gregg found Zambia, and much of Africa to be an incredible place with very many fantastic, hard working, loving people.
Upon returning from Zambia, Gregg spent a year and half in the local area, doing marketing for Foster’s Daily Democrat. He then headed West on a road trip with his Dad out to Oregon, where Gregg now lives. Gregg spent a year as an Americorps volunteer working on a school-based recycling and compost program just across the river from Portland in Clark County, Washington.
Recently, Gregg was hired on by the local waste hauler, Waste Connections, to work as a Waste Reduction Specialist, working with the community and schools to help reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill. He continues to educate students about composting, and strives to empower the community to take action to help our environment.
The Lux in Tenebris Award will be presented at the St. Thomas Aquinas High School graduation ceremony on June 6 at noon.
Photo caption: Gregg Hayward is the winner of this year’s Lux in Tenebris award, given by St. Thomas Aquinas High School. (Courtesy photo)
