Three Clark County high school students received the highest award for America’s youth, the Congressional Award, on April 14, 2003. This is not an honor that is just awarded, but is earned.

There are three different award levels: bronze, silver and gold. The award consists of four categories: Personal Development, Volunteer Public Service, Physical Fitness and Exploration/Expedition. In the four different areas of the award, you have to volunteer in your community, better yourself in some way by personal development, better yourself in physical fitness, and explore the outdoors. There are certain goals you must meet for each medal.

“The hardest part of getting the Congressional Award was keeping track of the hours because I already participated in most of the programs,” explains Alexandria Eppert, a Valley High School sophomore, who received both a bronze and silver medal.

For the bronze medal, you must have 100 hours of Volunteer Public Service, 50 hours of Personal Development, 50 hours of Physical Fitness, and at least 10 hours of adventurous activity, including one night of camping.

For the silver medal you must have 200 hours of Volunteer Public Service, 100 hours of Personal Development, 100 hours of Physical Fitness, and 20 hours of adventure activity, including two nights of camping in a tent for Exploration.

For the gold medal, you must have 400 hours of Volunteer Public Service, 200 hours of Personal Development, 200 hours of Physical Fitness, and at least 40 hours of adventure activity, with four nights in a tent for Exploration.

In all categories, you must be at least 14 years old and accomplish your goals by your 24th birthday.

As seen in the information above, earning the awards are very time consuming and not easy to obtain.

“When I found out about the program, I became really interested, and it was a recognition for things that I did normally," says Jason Schrader, a sophomore from the Advanced Technologies Academy, who also received a bronze and silver medal. "I just had to push myself a little bit farther to earn these medals I was presented today."

According to the winners, to earn a bronze medal takes at least six months, and a silver medal takes at least 12 months.

Brittany Worth, a Congressional Award winner and sophomore at Palo Verde High School, earned her bronze medal through volunteer hours at Mike O'Callaghan Hospital.

“I just really liked helping other people when I did my volunteering and enjoyed seeing them smile when I helped make their day a little bit easier,” she says.

The only other medal awarded by the U.S. Congress is the Medal of Honor, which is given for risking your life in combat beyond the call of duty.

If you are interested in earning a Congressional Award, you can fill out a registration form and send it to the national office. You must also submit a record book at each award level you complete. If you would like more information, you can go to www.congressionalaward.org. To see if there is a congressional council in your area, you can write to The Congressional Award Foundation, P.O Box 77440, Washington, D.C. 20013 or call 1-888-80-AWARD.

More Facts:

The Congressional Award was established in 1979 by Public Law 96-114, The Congressional Award Act. More than 6,500 Congressional Awards have been earned, representing well over 1.5 million volunteer hours performed in community service across America.

A public-private partnership, the Congressional Award Foundation is an IRS-designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that receives no federal funding.

-Return to May 2003 Issue-