Thursday, October 1, 2026
Sea Cliff’s Love Your Neighbor Project has awarded scholarships to three North Shore High School seniors and a grant to the high school’s Environmental Club.
Annually, the nonprofit presents graduating seniors with scholarships to assist them in college or with a community-driven mission. A grant is awarded to a club within the North Shore School District to support a project that benefits the community.
Love Your Neighbor Project, founded in 2020 by Jaime Teich, aims to connect neighbors and build a sense a community. The organization holds events throughout the year like Porchfest and Pride Stride and assists community members in need.
This year, two $1,000 scholarships were given to high school seniors David Jable and Keira Rechsteiner for their work at the high school and in the community. The scholarships are given to students who go “above and beyond” to connect people, Teich said.
Jable has been repairing discarded computers and donating them to students who do not have access to a computer. Teich said that in the four years the nonprofit has been giving out scholarships, Jable’s project is the first of its kind she has seen.
“When we read the submission, there was no doubt that it was something that we wanted to support,” Teich said. “He was looking at needs of other students and finding a way to utilize what he can offer and putting that to use. He literally put actions to words.” She added that she hopes Jable will be able to use the funds to purchase components he may need to continue his work.
Keira Rechsteiner was awarded the scholarship for her work with the high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club. She got involved with the club in middle school and has been a member since. This year, Rechsteiner and the GSA created an “Ally” initiative where students and teachers can purchase pins, lanyards, stickers and other items to identify themselves as allies. Teachers also have the opportunity to create Pride themed slides to be displayed on televisions in the high school hallways.
Rechsteiner said that club members thought having an item students and teachers could add to their physical presentation was an easy way for them to make themselves identifiable as “safe people.” She explained that the intention was to make it clear that LGBTQ+ students have people they can talk to.
“We realized that often the queer students at school feel like they don’t really have anywhere to go,” Rechsteiner said, “or that there was no judgment-free zone.”
She added that she thinks the initiative is “incredibly important” right now. The GSA held a Pride Month kickoff on June 1, and Rechsteiner claimed some students were heard making homophobic comments.
“Just to know that a simple celebration of queer joy faced so much hate and pushback from students, it’s just very scary,” she asserted, “and it can be scary for students to be their true selves when we’re surrounded by people to hate the community or use derogatory terms associated with us.”
Rechsteiner said she is “really grateful and honored” to receive the scholarship from Love Your Neighbor Project. She added that she plans to study art education at the University of Vermont in the fall.
Love Your Neighbor project presented a third student with a $500 scholarship this year. Teich said that senior Abigail Neice’s submission warranted recognition, so the organization created the North Shore High School Good Neighbor Award. It was originally not going to have a monetary component, but according to Teich, the organization was able to add $500 to the title because Porchfest raised more than $30,000 in May.
Neice received the award for her leadership in the school’s music department, working with younger musicians She began playing the clarinet in third grade at Sea Cliff Elementary School before switching to the euphonium, a tenor and baritone ranged brass instrument, the next year. Since then, she has also picked up the trombone and guitar. She said she first discovered her passion for music when she saw a brass quintet at her cousin’s wedding when she was nine.
“I just thought it was the coolest thing,” Neice recounted, “and after that I just started dedicating more and more of my time.”
She said that she began to lose her passion for music as a freshman but regained it when she formed meaningful relationships with music teachers and upperclassmen musicians. She added that she hopes to play that same role for underclassmen now.
“A couple of days ago, one of the one of the underclassmen brass players told me that I changed their view on music through working with them throughout the year to work on songs and progress their passion and skill in the instrument,” Neice said, “which was really, really sweet.”
Neice added that it is a “really big honor” to be recognized by Love Your Neighbor Project. She is studying music education at the University of Delaware after high school.
This year’s grant was awarded to the high school’s Environmental Club for a project focused on reducing waste and planting flower gardens on school grounds and elsewhere in the community. Senior Dhananjay Vats submitted the proposal on the club’s behalf.
Teich said that the Environmental Club was chosen because the project expands into the greater community.
“The youth are a part of this community,” she said, “in really positive and impactful ways.”
To learn more, visit LYNP.org.
