Hannah Uhrich named Student of Distinction for Iowa State University’s 2023 Student Employee of the Year

PIAL is pleased to celebrate Hannah Uhrich who was selected as a Student of Distinction for Iowa State University’s 2023 Student Employee of the Year award. Out of 47 nominations, Hannah was chosen for her outstanding contributions to campus as demonstrated in these five categories: community, service, diversity and inclusion, leadership, technology and innovation, and critical thinking.

Hannah has worked for PIAL for almost two years, and she has been a pillar of strength and a peer leader on the PIAL team. She values building relationships with team members, teachers, and students. She fosters a fun environment—taking creative and sometimes silly team photos, generating “Member Spotlights,” and building a team Spotify list for long car rides. She actively welcomes and mentors new students. She plans meetings with new team members to share tips to help them grow, to answer questions, and to give them time to practice facilitating. She is welcoming and friendly in all that she does. One of her team members commented, “It is impossible to have a bad time when Hannah is around.”

Hannah has risen to the challenge of learning the PIAL curriculum and ADMYRE (Advocating for My Relationships, a teen dating violence awareness program), and she has become a skilled presenter who adapts to challenges in the classroom. She makes a point to ensure everyone has a chance to share and collaborate. You will frequently hear her say, “Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t shared yet.” Hannah values helping everyone understand that their voice matters.

Hannah communicates with confidence and care because she finds it rewarding to talk about how to build healthy relationships with young people who might not learn about the topic otherwise. Her passion has driven her to plan to bring the healthy relationships message to other organizations at the university including her sorority Sigma Kappa. Hannah has been an integral part of developing and marketing ADMYRE and presenting this powerful message to Iowa youth and beyond.

Hannah was asked to take the lead in developing parts of PIAL’s new teen dating violence program, ADMYRE, for both the in-person version and transforming it into a powerful online version. She spent hours in brainstorming meetings to develop the debrief activities. In preparation, she went through all the stories, immersed herself in the characters and the different unhealthy characteristics shown in each story, and collaborated with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence to ensure relevant and age-appropriate content was developed. What emerged was a cohesive debrief that touches on important topics like technology abuse, power and control in relationships, and safety planning. Both have been presented to more than 200 students across the state of Iowa and more out-of-state through ADMYRE online. In addition, she has produced numerous powerful and professional marketing materials, videos, flyers, posters, infographics, and a safety plan for ADMYRE.

Hannah is also in charge of several ongoing projects such as creating the monthly newsletter, managing Instagram and Facebook, and designing marketing material for PIAL. With each of these projects, she demonstrates creativity and efficiency by meeting any deadline given to her.

Hannah helped resurrect the PIAL Instagram page and gave it a fresh look. Her most popular post was a reel about our parenting simulation using a trending song to boost engagement. It garnered 2,728 views and 62 likes.

Hannah continually recommends improvements, proposes creative ideas, is self-motivated, and is skilled at working collaboratively and independently. Hannah leaves a legacy of excellence for the PIAL team and youth across America with her vital role in creating, promoting, and launching the ADMYRE program—as content and materials creator, promotional leader, advisor, facilitator, and voice actor.