SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sydney Ward,
17, of Salem and Owen Hughes, 13, of Bountiful today were named Utah's top two youth volunteers of 2020 by The
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program
honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. As
State Honorees, Sydney and Owen each will receive
$1,000, an engraved silver medallion
and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top
two honorees from each of the other states and the District of
Columbia for four days of national recognition
events. During the trip, 10 students will be named
America's top youth volunteers of 2020.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its
25th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in
partnership with the National Association of Secondary School
Principals (NASSP).
These are Utah's top youth
volunteers of 2020:
High School State Honoree: Sydney Ward
Nominated by Salem
Hills High School
Sydney, a senior at Salem Hills High School, works to mobilize
young people in her community to become better informed about
issues affecting their lives and more engaged in local politics by
staging mock elections, organizing town hall meetings with local
and state representatives, and spearheading voter registration
drives at high schools. When Sydney was 13, her mother took her to
a political convention to nominate county and state candidates. She
spent most of her day there handing out fliers in support of their
candidate and collecting political T-shirts. "I realized then and
there that I wanted to have my own voice heard in that process,"
Sydney said.
On the day before Election Day 2016, Sydney, with the help of
her history teacher, organized a mock election at her school that
drew participation from 75 percent of the student body. The ensuing
conversations fueled her desire to do more. So in 2019, she founded
"Project 320" to encourage young people to get involved in the
political process. As executive director, Sydney spends roughly 30
hours a week planning social media campaigns, posting candidate
platforms on a website, coordinating events with local officials,
recruiting volunteers, writing grant applications and securing
support from the community. To increase young people's awareness of
governmental issues and the political process, her group has hosted
a series of town hall meetings to bring students and elected
officials together. At one of her meetings, 100 students heard
their state representatives talk about upcoming bills that affect
them. "After the event, many students said they had no idea state
government had such an influence on their lives," she said.
Middle Level State Honoree: Owen Hughes
Nominated by Bountiful
Junior High School
Owen, an eighth-grader at Bountiful Junior High School,
converted a library into a music and game room at Valor House, a
transitional housing facility for veterans, and then initiated a
monthly game night for its residents. Owen has always had the
utmost respect for America's servicemembers; three of his great
grandfathers served in World War II and his brother was in
the United States Air Force. "So
when I see veterans who are homeless, it makes me feel bad," he
said. "I can't really solve their struggles with addiction,
homelessness and mental health," he continued, "but I can try to
help make their lives a little more fun and help them form
friendships."
After gaining approval from Valor House administrators, Owen
asked members of his Boy Scout troop to help distribute fliers all
over his neighborhood, soliciting donations of games and musical
instruments. He also placed a collection box at his church. After
he had enough donations, he and some friends cleaned out books from
a room that had been used as a library, checked all the games to
make sure they were intact, cleaned the games and instruments, and
organized them into categories. They also built an outdoor game
cupboard so residents could play on the patio while enjoying the
sunshine. When the game room was ready, Owen coordinated the first
of many monthly game nights, inviting members of a national
veterans group and his soccer team to join veterans at Valor House
for games, snacks, a raffle and two hours of fun. "The most
memorable part was playing the games and laughing so hard we almost
cried," he said.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized four other Utah students
as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service
activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are Utah's Distinguished
Finalists for 2020:
Ashlyn Anderson, 17, of
Provo, Utah, a senior at
Timpview High School, has spent hundreds of hours helping refugees
around the world by soliciting donations from local businesses,
making and selling baked goods, and assembling hygiene kits to send
to refugees in Lebanon and
Jordan. Ashlyn also educates
others in her community about the international refugee crisis, and
arranged for a refugee and author to share his story at a lunch
event.
Lily Hawkins, 18, of
Salt Lake City, Utah, a senior
at East High School, helps run "The Ghana Project," which raises
money selling traditional Ghanaian masks in her community; her
efforts have helped establish a secondary school scholarship for
three students and funded a computer lab, internet access and a
generator for a Ghanaian school. Lily and her project partner are
currently working to expand their efforts to other schools in their
area.
Kate Herbert, 18, of
Lehi, Utah, a senior at
Skyridge High School, serves as an "elementary school pilot,"
visiting elementary schools in her school system to teach
leadership lessons to students; she also organized a drive to help
stock her school's new library, which ultimately collected more
than 2,000 books. As a dedicated volunteer in her community, Kate
has also participated in fun runs, veteran dinners and mental
health awareness events.
Brianna Smith, 17, of
Saint George, Utah, a senior
at Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts, organized a
fundraising concert that raised more than $1,500 for The Rape, Abuse & Incest National
Network (RAINN); her efforts include recruiting participants,
soliciting donations from local organizations and choreographing a
dance performance. Brianna chose this project to raise awareness
about RAINN, sexual violence, and finding your voice again after
trauma.
"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers,
we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to
address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential
Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and
their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider
how they can make a difference, too."
"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable
things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer
service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning
with real-world challenges," said JoAnn
Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP.
"Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees – it's an honor
to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."
About The Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents
the United States' largest youth
recognition program based solely on volunteer service. 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 Points of Light Global Network members,
were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential
Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed
by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and
Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal
initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.
While in Washington, D.C., the
102 State Honorees – one middle level and one high school
student from each state and the District
of Columbia – will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top
youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala
awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural
History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol
Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State
Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will
be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National
Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal
trophies and $5,000 grants from
Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their
choice.
Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young
volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national
level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China
and Brazil. In addition to
granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to
qualifying Local Honorees.
For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of
Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit
http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.
About NASSP
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other
school leaders across the United
States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school
leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's
potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the
success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to
student leadership development, NASSP administers the National
Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National
Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn
more at www.nassp.org
About Prudential Financial
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services
leader, has operations in the United
States, Asia, Europe, and Latin
America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are
committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow
and protect their wealth through a variety of products and
services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related
services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S.,
Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability,
expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more
information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.
For Spirit of Community Awards
program logo and medallion
graphics, please visit
https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media
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