LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

David Quinn was nominated by an anonymous student.

"I met David Quinn as a freshman in high school, but it wasn't until my junior year that I truly got to know him," said the nominator. "My life at that time felt like it was falling apart...I would have flunked out of the IB program, and out of high school altogether. I had fully developed plans for suicide, which I was going to act on, but then I found myself in Quinn's office, broken and sobbing. He listened. He listened and helped, spoke to my teachers and let me slip into his office to rest, breathe, or work in silence on his couch when everything else was too much."

"David Quinn saved my life," said the nominator. "I maintain that to this day. He offered warmth and kindness at a time when life left me chilled to the bone. He not only became a friend, but family. With his assistance and compassion, I made it out of that hole and have become successful. My life is now dedicated to advocating for others the way he advocated for me."

"David Quinn is a brilliant educator," said the nominator. "He dedicates his life to helping students like me, but also to creating systemic change within his school and every aspect of his life. He advocated for Washington State IB policy to change so all IB students in WA would receive appropriate credit for their hard work. David is a rare sort of excellent, and his impressive credentials demonstrate as much. He has consistently held leadership roles within the institutions he works for, such as his role at HVA."

"There is no person better than Quinn to receive this award," said the nominator. "He holds compassion and integrity at the heart of every pursuit. He believes in creating a space which allows students to flourish both emotionally and academically. I am only one student in a long line of those whose lives have been permanently changed for the better, and I am far from the last."