FARMINGTON, Conn. (WFSB) - A Farmington teenager recently took home a big honor for her work to create a more inclusive community.
The National Education Association recognized Sreenidi Bala for her dedication at their national awards ceremony recently in Philadelphia.
16-year-old Sree Bala is still walking the halls of Farmington High, but her big ideas have already spread nationwide.
"We all deserve someone to invest in us and I just wanted to do that for special needs students," Bala said.
That is how her Code for All Minds program began.
"What's very very close to my heart is Code for All Minds. I grew up with a childhood best friend who was diagnosed with autism," said Bala.
"I wanted to rewrite that narrative for him. So it started with just sending him video lessons on how to use your computer, send an email, stay connected with friends, just digital life skills," Bala explained.
The personal passion project then grew into a full curriculum with 12 lesson plans.
The program teaches everything from coding to learning how to drag and drop and even has a tutorial on sequencing.
"As we become so dependent on technology, we shouldn't be leaving an entire student population behind," Bala said.
The computer science program is now available across the country and its reach is growing by the day as she partners with more organizations and students with special needs.
"For all these students, it's not what they're learning, it's how they're being taught. I really understood that to unlock these students' potential, it was about that 1-to-1 attention and really investing in themselves and making them believe their future is limitless," said Bala.
Sree is rooted in community service. She is also president of the high school multicultural student union, advocating for racial equity and promoting civil rights education.
"I've learned you can't change the world but you can change one person's world," Bala said.