North Atlanta students are making names for themselves both in and out of the school. Junior Alexandria Wilson is one of these students. On March 25, she was one of six women awarded the Porsche Driving Force Award at the Center for Civil and Human Rights next to Centennial Olympic Park. The award is conferred upon students who make significant strides outside of their schools. “It was such a great honor to receive this award,” Wilson said. “I had no idea I was nominated for it. It was a complete surprise.”

The Porsche award is sponsored by Porsche USA and recognizes women who have made significant contributions to their communities and who have done so selflessly with no thought about personal gain or recognition.

Wilson has been an active participant both in and outside her school. Her love for journalism shows through in contributions to the school yearbook and newspaper. Her commitment to giving teens a voice is shown in her participation with VOX Teen Communications. For VOX, she’s been a leader in writing, article illustration, layout and design and community workshops.

VOX is an after-school nonprofit organization run by teenagers. The group’s mission is to “connect diverse metro Atlanta teens to resources for building their confidence, increasing their capacity to meet life’s demands and ensuring their future success.” One of the organization’s major projects is the VOX newspaper. The newspaper is distributed to different schools, libraries and other places where teenagers have access to the publication. Wilson credits the paper for helping her grow. “I’ve really been able to see my own personal development and to become more of a leader than I ever was before,” Wilson said.

Wilson was nominated by Katie Strangis, a VOX staff member who has served as Wilson’s mentor in her journalistic endeavors. Wilson has been involved in VOX for five years and currently serves on the organization’s board and works as a teen staff member. Her responsibilities include overseeing the operation of VOX and pitching in wherever she is needed.

Beyond the Porsche award, Wilson has also been nominated for the Women Making Their Mark Award which will be awarded in June. She was nominated for the award by VOX’s founder, Rachel Alterman Wallack.

Wilson said she hopes she inspires other students to work on endeavors outside of school. “I like to believe that we are capable of just about anything we set our minds to,” she said.