2023 Big Waves Scholarship Recipient Jack Klein
Jack Klein, receives his scholarship from Meghan Bigelow and past years recipients at Lock Your Gun day, held at McKay Park.
Congratulations to this year’s Big Waves Scholarship recipient Jack Klein!
Jack is a 2023 Niwot High School graduate and served as Captain of the Rocky Mountain Neptunes water polo team, playing with them for the last eight years. He's a highly decorated player, winning awards and honors such as:
Selected 5x to Mountain Zone ODP team
Competed at Junior Olympics, 5x- Defensive Captain 2022
Colorado State Champion-2019/2021 Runner-up 2022, Captain
USA Water Polo 3x Academic All-American Outstanding (highest level)
Niwot High School Student Athlete, March 2023
Jack will attend Wake Forest University as a history major in the fall. His love of history started when he was eight years old. Whenever he had downtime, his mother told him he could help with chores or watch a history documentary.
Jack says, “Of course, I always chose the documentary. While successfully avoiding the vacuum and dishwasher, I learned about the Battle of the Bulge, Julius Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul, and Tsar Nicholas II’s fall from power.”
By ten, Jack could recount the entire arc of World War II. He explains, “This passion manifested in my academics, where I received all A’s in IB History of Europe and Honors US History…the confidence I gained in the classroom carried over into other aspects of my life, ultimately making me a better athlete, classmate, and leader.”
Balance and Bettering His Community
It can be hard to do it all. So what's Jack’s secret to balancing it all? Jack focuses on what he cares about by choosing his activities carefully.
“I balance my activities and school work by being highly motivated, a very hard worker, and choosing activities I am passionate about. For example, I founded and served as the Executive Director for the Community Food Share Youth Board, an organization striving to eliminate food insecurity locally.”
After the pandemic and returning to in-person learning, Jack realized his school had limited food choices. There weren't any options to purchase more food.
“The gnawing hunger I felt in my afternoon classes led to headaches and difficulty focusing, but I was lucky enough to have a fully stocked fridge waiting at home,” recalls Jack.
After talking with a classmate, he discovered many of his peers weren’t as fortunate. How could they keep up with school while struggling with hunger?
Determined to help fight food insecurity in his community, he began volunteering at Community Food Share, a local nonprofit food bank. “I sorted peppers for hours on end and hauled box after box of food into the trunks of participants’ cars, but I knew more could be done,” Jack remembers.
So he went to the CEO of Community Food Share and proposed an idea. He wanted to create a teen board dedicated to fighting hunger. The CEO enthusiastically approved the project after seeing Jack’s passion for the project.
Jack brought on his first board member and quickly recruited six other students for the food bank. He arranged for professionals from Community Food Share to speak to the teen board and share their expertise on the issue's complexities.
Jack and the youth board raised money by doing everything from parking cars in the pouring rain at the Farm to Fork Fundraiser to handing out water at a charity race. Under Jack’s direction, they also created a signature event, the Mother’s Day Fair. Held at the local mall, it featured crafts, games, and educational stations. By the end of their first year, the Youth Board raised $12,200 and completed 664 hours of service.
“Finding balance while maintaining excellent grades, playing and traveling for water polo, and making a difference in my community is a result of finding my passions and living them!”
We couldn’t agree more.