Iowa’s Anders Lovstuen Receives Heart of the Arts Award

Few others personify the spirit of education-based activities more fervently than Anders Lovstuen, a speech standout and integral part of the Decorah (Iowa) High School community who refuses to be defined by his physical limitations. However, there’s a very strong case that Lovstuen, who was born without arms and legs, can be defined by another part of his body – his heart.

The NFHS selected Lovstuen, a multi-activity participant and exemplary student leader at Decorah, as the recipient of the 2024 National High School Heart of the Arts Award.

The National High School Heart of the Arts Award was conceptualized by the NFHS in 2014 and has since been utilized to honor those individuals who exemplify the ideals of the positive heart of the arts and represent the core mission of education-based activities.

Intelligent, charismatic and known for lifting up those around him, Lovstuen has risen to become captain of the DHS speech and Envirothon teams, as well as a go-to member of the robotics team and the school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. He does all this while maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average (GPA) that made him a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, including him in a cohort that comprises less than one percent of all high school seniors in the United States.

Lovstuen’s extraordinary extracurricular talents show up – first and foremost – on the speech stage, where, as a four-year member of the team, he earned Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) All-State honors in both Readers Theater and Improvisation in 2022 and 2023. Last year, his Improvisation group claimed the IHSSA’s highest honor, the Critic’s Choice award, crowning them the best performers out of 566 teams statewide. Along the way to these lofty accolades, Lovstuen remained true to form as a role model, helping to organize DHS’ district contest and epitomizing for younger teammates what it means to act, dress and compete with class.

Last year was also a memorable one for the Envirothon team, which reigned supreme in every category (soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry and wildlife) at the state competition. The team, known as “Decorah Nerd Republic,” went on to represent the state of Iowa at the North American Envirothon event hosted by the National Conservation Foundation, where they took home a top- 20 finish. As captain, Lovstuen is also responsible for leading the team’s study sessions.

For the robotics team, Lovstuen is both a participant and a coach, focused on developing ideas for the robot and coordinating the team’s tournament interview process. His guidance paid off recently as the team captured the Judges’ Choice Award at the league tournament and also won its super qualifier competition.

Lovstuen has served as FFA chapter treasurer and as Growing Leaders Division chair and has also been a part of several FFA committees. An active participant at the chapter, district and state levels and an avid competitor at skills competitions, Lovstuen has earned awards in multiple disciplines including Oral Reasons (first place), Conduct of Meetings (third place, “Gold” rating in 2021), Treasurer’s Book (“Gold” rating in 2023) and Parliamentary Procedure (“Silver” rating), and helped his team take second place at the 2023 state dairy cattle evaluation contest. Lovstuen is involved with 4-H as well and was a member of an All-Star Dairy judging team that took fourth place at the North American International Livestock Exposition.

Although he can’t compete on the field or the mat, Lovstuen has still found a way to be a key contributor to the Decorah football and wrestling programs. He has kept statistics for the football team for the past six seasons and attends every wrestling practice as a manager. During matches, he provides broadcast commentary on the team’s Facebook video streams.

In addition to carrying his perfect GPA, Lovstuen tutors fellow students who are experiencing academic difficulties and has competed in the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP) High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM) in each of his four high school years. Two years ago, he was a part of the first team in state history to be HiMCM “finalists,” which placed them in the top seven percent of competitors in the country and clinched a berth in COMAP’s International Mathematical Modeling Challenge.

On top of everything else, Lovstuen is part of the DHS Student Leadership Committee and the National Honor Society and also writes for the school newspaper, The Decorah Dispatch, working as a liaison between the student body and administration. He also played a major role in organizing the “Viking Olympics” during Decorah’s homecoming week this past fall and functioned as the master of ceremonies for the all-school pep assembly.

Following are the 2024 National High School Heart of the Arts section winners:

Section 1 – Evan Boulay, student, Lincoln (Rhode Island) High School

Section 2 – Kiley Mullins, student, Lovingston (Virginia) Nelson County High School

Section 3 – Adam Elitzur, student, Davie (Florida) Posnack Jewish Day School

Section 4 – Anders Lovstuen, student, Decorah (Iowa) High School

Section 5 – Tami Maytum, theatre director and speech coach, Malcolm (Nebraska) High School

Section 6 – Seth Gilley, student, Stephenville (Texas) High School

Section 7 – Ellie McKinlay, student, West Valley City (Utah) Hunter High School

Section 8 – Ethan Harris, student, Mountain Home (Idaho) High School

Award nominees were submitted by their respective state high school associations and were reviewed by the NFHS National High School Heart of the Arts Award Selection Committee, which is also made up of state association staff members. Section winners received their awards before the end of the current school year, while the national winner was honored at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Boston. Including this year, 12 individuals, one band and one theatre group have been chosen as national award winners.

The past recipients of the National High School Heart of the Arts Award are:

2014 – Leia Schwartz, student-athlete/performing arts student, Miami (Florida) Coral Reef High School

2015 – Ethan Gray, performing arts student, Chicago (Illinois) St. Rita of Cascia High School

2016 – Midland City (Alabama) Dale County High School Marching Band and Band Director Sherri Miller

2017 – Josephine Ross, student, St. Paul (Minnesota) Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School

2018 – Cecelia Egan, student, Riverside (Rhode Island) St. Mary Academy-Bay

2019 – LaRaine Fess, drama teacher at Beaufort (South Carolina) High School and the Beaufort High School Theatre Department

2020 – Cailin Martin, student, Newport (Rhode Island) Rogers High School

2021 – Kylen Running Hawk, student, Morris Area (Minnesota) High School

2022 – Lola M. Wade, theatre instructor, Pittsburg (Kansas) St. Mary’s Colgan High School

2023 – Adam Mewhorter, director of bands, and Casey Hubbard, student, Moore (Oklahoma) Southmoore High School