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Six Washington-Area Youth Volunteers Win Top Honors in 13th Annual National Awards Program

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 February 2008, 09:00 CST

Six Washington-area middle and high school students today were named State Honorees for 2008 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 13th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Elizabeth Bowles, 18, and Joel Joseph, 13, were selected as the top two youth volunteers in the District of Columbia. In addition, Madison Mayster, 17, of Chevy Chase and Connor Dantzler, 13, of Damascus were named the top youth volunteers in Maryland; and Sarasi Jayaratne, 18, of Potomac Falls and Cori Goodwin, 13, of Leesburg were chosen as the top youth volunteers in Virginia.

As State Honorees, each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an invitation to the program's national recognition events in early May in Washington, where they will join the top two honorees -- one middle level and one high school youth -- from each of the 48 other states for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America's top youth volunteers for 2008 at that time.

Elizabeth Bowles, a senior at Washington International School in Washington, developed an after-school foreign-language tutoring program for students at a local elementary school. Elizabeth, who began learning French when she was just 3 years old, was surprised to discover that many elementary schools in the District of Columbia do not offer foreign language instruction. "I wanted to share the unique experience I had," she said. "I thought exposing children to another language would give them a chance to see a broader view of the world, just as it had for me."

Elizabeth had little trouble persuading a school in her neighborhood to let her introduce an after-school tutoring program. She then recruited other students at her high school to join her in tutoring, and developed a curriculum that emphasized fun activities such as interactive games and art projects. "I wanted the children to have fun 'playing' with language," she said. When a fellow student expressed interest in being a Spanish tutor, Elizabeth expanded the program to include Spanish. Now, 15 tutors work with about 20 children for an hour and a half every Friday afternoon. Two elementary schools in northern Virginia have asked Elizabeth to start tutoring programs for their students, so she is also training a group of high school sophomores to accommodate those requests.

Joel Joseph, an eighth-grader at Jefferson Middle School in Washington, has volunteered in a wide variety of activities over the past several years to help hurricane victims, homeless people, soldiers in Iraq, and students in Uganda. His motivation came from watching his father, Joel said. "He always does his best to help others. I saw this and tried to copy him by doing whatever I could."

First, Joel canvassed his school and community to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina, collecting $300. Then he participated in a fund-raising walk to benefit the homeless, and collected donations for the Sojourner Truth Memorial Fund. Later, he participated in efforts to collect and purchase sunscreen for U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq, and to write letters and send pictures to the troops overseas. Joel also took part in a drive to gather school supplies for disadvantaged Ugandan students. "I work hard, I care about others, and know that everything that I do will benefit someone else twice as much," he said.

Madison Mayster, a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, formed a "Braille Awareness Club" at her school to promote fun ways for visually impaired people to learn Braille, and to raise awareness of social and economic issues facing the blind. Madison's mother founded a music and art school for the blind, and, as a result, Madison is keenly aware of issues affecting the blind. "As a volunteer at many nonprofit organizations for the blind and visually impaired, I was constantly exposed to the sad reality of the dwindling literacy of the blind," she explained. "Only nine percent of blind high school students graduate knowing how to read and write in Braille."

Madison took a two-year course in Braille, and then learned how to teach the subject by introducing it to sighted elementary students. After launching her club at her high school, she educated its members by inviting a variety of experts to speak at club meetings, and she raised more than $3,500 the first year to buy supplies to assist in teaching others. The club has demonstrated innovative Braille-learning methods using a weaving loom and muffin tins at public gatherings, and taught basic Braille skills to 45 kids in kindergarten through fourth grade. "It is extremely important that today's blind youth learn to read and write Braille, as competency in these areas will create more opportunities for economic and social advancement," said Madison.

Connor Dantzler, an eighth-grader at John T. Baker Middle School in Damascus, has distributed 5,000 joke books to patients, their families, and caregivers at hospitals and care centers throughout Maryland as part of his "Health Through Humor" program. "I thought that if I could bring a smile to a sick or injured person, even if for just a while, then that brief distraction from their condition could be helpful to their recovery," said Connor. "I've always enjoyed reading joke books, and thought that others might like them, too."

Connor contacts the public relations staff at hospitals and assisted-living facilities to explain his program and schedule his visits. When his parents drive him on his excursions after school and on weekends, he not only delivers his joke books, but visits with patients to read the jokes and share some laughter. Connor plans to continue his program, and perhaps expand it by encouraging other teens to start chapters in their areas. "I've shared a smile and a positive moment with a lot of people," said Connor. "I hope that these efforts have made a difference to those who really needed something to laugh about."

Sarasi Jayaratne, a senior at Potomac Falls High School in Potomac Falls, collected more than 6,000 books for schools in Sri Lanka that were devastated by the tsunami of 2004. When Sarasi, whose family is from Sri Lanka, saw reports of the disaster on television, "I had this overpowering urge to help," she said. She initially raised money with her Girl Scout troop to support Red Cross relief efforts, but she wanted to do more. Then she learned that 168 schools in Sri Lanka were damaged or destroyed by the tsunami, and she immediately thought of sending books.

Sarasi met with school and church leaders to discuss her planned book drive, and developed a video presentation to persuade her community of its importance. She also garnered the attention of local news media to help spread the word about her campaign. Over the following months, Sarasi gathered books from friends, schools, churches, yard sales and libraries. She also canvassed neighborhoods door-to-door. When she had collected 2,000 books, she traveled to Sri Lanka to deliver them to 15 schools that she had selected; while there, she also tutored school children in English. With more donations coming in from across the country, Sarasi soon had 4,000 additional books to ship. She says her project, now formalized as the "Keep Reading Foundation," is designed not only to aid devastated schools, but also to promote English as a common language that can help children from different backgrounds succeed and get along with one another in the modern world.

Cori Goodwin, an eighth-grader at Harper Park Middle School in Leesburg, started a fund-raising project that raised $680 to buy three farm animals for an impoverished family in a third-world country. "About a year ago, I began saving money that I was earning," said Cori. "I didn't know what I wanted to use the money for, but I knew I wanted to give it to someone who needed it." One day, a catalog from an international relief organization arrived at her door, and as she thumbed through its pages, Cori realized she had found her cause. "I realized that there are children starving in the streets and dying," she said. "My heart went out to them and I knew that I needed to do something to help them."

Cori loved the idea of providing farm animals to poor families to give them a source of both food and income. She decided to buy a cow, but had only $150 of the $500 she needed. So she prepared a slideshow presentation to get her school's WyldLife group involved. They group's members collected pocket change, recyclable ink cartridges and cell phones, and arranged a fund-raising event at a local ice cream shop. The nearly $700 they raised was enough to buy not only a cow, but a sheep and a goat as well. "This gift has long-term impact on a family and their community," said Cori. "It really is the gift that keeps on giving."

"Over the past 13 years, we've seen an incredible number of young Americans who have selflessly devoted their time and energy to helping others in their communities," said Arthur F. Ryan, chairman of Prudential Financial. "The volunteer work of this year's honorees is as inspiring as any we've seen, and we are honored to recognize the amazing contributions they've made to their neighborhoods, cities and nation."

"Congratulations to this year's state winners in The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards," stated Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "The hard work and determination that these students have exhibited in trying to make a difference in the lives of others is remarkable."

All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Volunteer Centers, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award this past November. Nearly 4,500 Local Honorees were then reviewed by state-level judges, who selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees will tour the capital's landmarks, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. In addition, 10 of them -- five middle level and five high school students -- will be named National Honorees on May 5 by a prestigious national selection committee. These honorees will receive additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions, crystal trophies, and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for nonprofit, charitable organizations of their choice.

Co-chairing the national selection committee will be U.S. Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and Arthur Ryan of Prudential. Also serving on the committee will be actor Richard Dreyfuss; Alma Powell, chair of America's Promise -- The Alliance for Youth; Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of the Points of Light & Hands On Network; Amy B. Cohen, director of Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA; Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council; Kathryn Forbes, national chair of volunteers, American Red Cross; Neil Nicoll, CEO of YMCA of the USA; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; Barry Stark, president of NASSP; and two 2007 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Kelly Davis of West Bath, Maine, and Kelydra Welcker of Parkersburg, W.Va.

In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will be distributing President's Volunteer Service Awards to nearly 2,800 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represent the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. The program is part of a broad youth-service initiative by Prudential that includes a youth leadership training program administered by the Points of Light & Hands On Network; a free booklet of volunteer ideas for young people offered through the Federal Citizen Information Center; and a Web site featuring profiles of outstanding youth volunteers, volunteer tips and project ideas for students, an electronic newspaper on youth volunteerism, and more (www.prudential.com/spirit). The Spirit of Community Awards program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Ireland.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit www.prudential.com/spirit, or www.principals.org/prudential.

NASSP is the preeminent organization and the national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders. NASSP provides its members the professional resources to serve as visionary leaders. NASSP promotes the intellectual growth, academic achievement, character development, leadership development, and physical well-being of youth through its programs and student leadership services. NASSP administers the National Honor Society™, the National Junior Honor Society™ and the National Association of Student Councils™.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management expertise, Prudential is focused on helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. The company's well-known Rock symbol is an icon of strength, stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time. Prudential's businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit www.prudential.com.

Editors: Graphics depicting the award program's logo and medallions may be downloaded from www.prudential.com/spirit.

Source: Business Wire

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