Benjamin Rawald
- Brackettville, TX
- Brackett High School
Benjamin Rawald is a graduating Texas Senior at Brackett High School in addition to earning a General Studies Associate Degree Southwest Texas Junior College. He maintains a 4.0 GPA and will graduate fourth in his class. Benjamin’s favorite way to serve his community is as a member of Boy Scout Troop 280 and Venture Crew 280. Since 2013, Benjamin has completed over 6,000 service hours. Passionate about environmental awareness, Benjamin educates his peers through local conservation efforts. He spent years removing the armored catfish, an invasive species, from the local creek. Benjamin planned and executed four environmental projects, garnering the nationally prestigious Hornaday Conservation Silver Medal and was Awarded top finalist for the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards. Ben’s efforts encouraged a county-wide plastic bag recycling initiative. He convinced a local Air Force Base to recycle thousands of toner cartridges, while working arm in arm with environmental engineers to revive a local wetland. Inspired by a National Geographic article outlining the decline in monarch butterflies due to insufficient milkweed, Benjamin researched an unorthodox gardening method, creating seed balls that do not require sowing. He taught hundreds of youth and adults to make and spread over 17,500 of his milkweed seed balls.