Cranbrook Kingswood High School Student Ryan VanDyke was named Detroit’s Student Visionary of the Year by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
By: Mary Genson | Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle | Published December 15, 2025
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Each year, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society honors high school students through the Student Visionaries of the Year philanthropic competition.
Cranbrook Kingswood High School student Ryan VanDyke was named the Detroit region’s Student Visionary of the Year for his leadership efforts in raising $243,952 to help blood cancer patients.
VanDyke was nominated to participate in the competition, where he was tasked with assembling a team of students and adults to raise as much money as possible in seven weeks. This was done last year, when VanDyke was a sophomore. He is now 17 and a junior.
When choosing his team, Champions for a Change, he said he looked for people with diverse networks to help maximize fundraising opportunities.
“I didn’t want to choose people that are necessarily in my circle, per se. I would try to go for someone who might get out to a different audience of people that could tap into donating that I wouldn’t have reached without them,” VanDyke said.
The team ranked in the top 2% of 1,133 teams nationwide. Team members came from Cranbrook Kingswood High School, Detroit Country Day High School, the University of Detroit and Marian High School.
The team consisted of AJ Farner, Colin VanDyke, Joe Wiater, Robbie Sarle, Cole Kirschenbaum, Josh Day, Eli Rosen, Matthew Dilley, Landon Smith, Ricky Jeong, Quinn Norlander, Cooper Masters and Stella Glorio.
Farmer, from Cranbrook Kingswood High School, was the national runner-up for Team Member of the Year.
VanDyke said the goal was “helping find a cure, helping raise awareness, and helping patients who are affected by blood cancer get more support that they deserve.”
Throughout the process, VanDyke said, he tried to stay proactive and keep his team motivated. He said the most productive way of raising money was sending letters.
The team did, however, hold local fundraising events to try to reach new audiences.
“Being the Student Visionary of the Year wasn’t necessarily the goal going into it,” VanDyke said. “It was more just trying to make an impact on as many people and as many people’s lives as I could, both me and my team.”
Though the other candidates were technically competitors, VanDyke said he was impressed with how much money everyone was able to collectively raise.
“This amazing campaign brought us together, and we really got to work together and spread the word and raise awareness and money for people in need,” VanDyke said.
“In the cancer space, pediatric patients are 26 years and younger, and the majority of pediatric cancer patients are experiencing blood cancer,” Sarah Belote, statewide “Of the Year” campaign development director for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said. “Having their peers step up and fight back for their health experiences and fundraising for research, for treatment that will allow them to not experience lifelong side effects after cancer, is really important.”
VanDyke was on the board to choose the candidates for Detroit’s next Student Visionaries of the Year competition. The competition begins Jan. 23, and the winner is announced March 14 at the Grand Finale, held at the Royal Oak Music Theatre.