Irena Lam, a sophomore at Redmond High School has been selected as a Seafair Ambassador for Washington.

This November, Lam will go to Japan with five fellow ambassadors from Washington to represent the festival and interact with government officials, business leaders, and students. She also won a $1,000 scholarship.

The Seafair program (sponsored by BECU) had their annual symposium where speakers from different community service programs come together to speak to sophomores and juniors all over Washington. This was a one-day event where students heard from representatives from programs like Habitat for Humanity and Global Health. At the end of the day, they were sent home to come up with a community service project idea inspired by one of the programs.

Lam’s idea was called Fine Arts Touches the Community (FATC), inspired by Habitat for Humanity, which supplies physical necessities for people, such as houses. She looked towards the necessities that human souls need: music, literature, drama, and human interaction.

Lam focused on two groups in society which normally don’t interact — younger teens involved in fine arts who have limited performance opportunities, and senior citizens in hospitals and senior centers who may not be able to access concert halls and performances. She presented her idea through a video and PowerPoint.

Lam made the top 12 and was interviewed by the Seafair Board of Directors. The next day, she found out she had been selected as an ambassador.