ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--David Schommer, 18, of Woodbury and Michael Heim, 14, of Sartell today were named Minnesota's top two youth volunteers for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. David was nominated by Woodbury High School in Woodbury, and Michael was nominated by Sartell Middle School in Sartell. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 17th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
David, a senior at Woodbury High School, has written and produced television programs, public service announcements, educational videos, documentary films and other video projects with the goal of inspiring others and changing lives. “I strive to inspire others by developing an understanding of our common humanity, creating communication tools to improve humanity, and generating ideas into tangible offerings that can be enjoyed by others,” he said.
David is the founding president and executive producer of a broadcasting network at his school, which features a program about interesting school topics and has become both a popular and effective communication tool for students. He used his writing and editing abilities to produce a variety of video projects for his community and school. He has made public service announcements about water conservation and safe driving, as well as videos about cancer awareness. In addition, David creates documentary films and video projects about special people, politics, history, health, the environment, music, science, sports and rural America. Some of these have won local and state awards. “My goal is to tell stories that will impact others…and change lives,” he said.
Michael, an eighth-grader at Sartell Middle School, collected a truck-full of paper towels, napkins, disposable diapers, toilet paper and other paper products for a battered women’s shelter. After being selected to travel to China as a student ambassador with the People to People program, Michael was challenged to collect paper goods for a charity of his choosing. He chose Anna Marie’s Shelter in nearby St. Cloud. “Helping the battered women’s shelter was important to me because our family has taken care of two foster children that came from abusive homes,” said Michael. Since his goal was to fill an SUV with paper products in one week, he called his project “Stuff the Truck.”
After pondering the best way to conduct his paper drive, Michael decided to encourage his classmates to help. He made posters to publicize the week-long event and hung them around his school and church. He also made daily announcements to the student body to encourage donations. “The most difficult part of this project was finding a place at school to store all the paper products that were being brought in to stuff the SUV,” said Michael. “This was a good problem to have.” In the end, Michael was able to deliver 300 rolls of toilet paper, 100 boxes of Kleenex, 176 rolls of paper towels, six boxes of disposable diapers, 80 packages of napkins, 25 packages of baby wipes, as well as $150 in cash, to the shelter. “The whole stuffing the truck was a memorable experience for me,” said Michael. “My heart leaped for joy at how generous the students and families at my school were.”
As State Honorees, David and Michael 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 several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2012 at that time.
Distinguished Finalists
In addition, the program judges recognized six other Minnesota students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:
Jessica Autey, 18, of Farmington, Minn., a member of the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys in Brooklyn Center and a senior at Farmington Senior High School, made and distributed more than 200 Teen Activity Packets to the Minnesota Children’s Hospital. Jessica, who worked on this project with a friend, earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for her volunteer work.
Alexandra Grafe, 17, of Rochester, Minn., a senior at Mayo Senior High School, is an active member of the Teen Council through which she developed an anti-bullying campaign that has reached more than 5,000 students and community members, and is now being taught throughout Southern Minnesota. Alexandra implemented the campaign when her brother, who was born deaf, like her, was bullied, physically attacked and hospitalized.
Kaitlyn Hennessy, 17, of Lewiston, Minn., a senior at Lewiston-Altura High School, has led numerous volunteer activities and fundraisers through “Souled Out,” a prayer and community service group she started at her school. Under Kaitlyn’s leadership, the group’s accomplishments have included raising $750 for Haiti, helping to buy and pack more than 8,000 meals for hungry children, and gathering more than 100 toys for Toys for Tots.
Kelsey Krueger, 18, of St. Cloud, Minn., a senior at St. Cloud Apollo High School, created and coordinated a hunger-fighting project for the past two years that involved more than 600 volunteers packing more than 130,000 meals for those in need. Kelsey, who plans to host this event annually, has also been actively involved in other charitable projects including raising more than $25,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Acacia Ramberg, 18, of Woodbury, Minn., a senior at Stillwater Area High School, traveled to Japan after last year’s earthquake and tsunami to teach English to junior high school students and help assist survivors in one of the country’s hardest-hit regions. Acacia, who had visited Japan many times before, cleaned up debris from the disaster and helped move furniture into temporary housing facilities.
Kaylah Smeby, 13, of New Prauge, Minn., a seventh-grader at New Prauge Middle School, is an active volunteer at the Malastrana Nursing Home, where she plays games, assists with arts and crafts and befriends the residents. Kaylah, who began volunteering as a way to cope when her grandfather moved into a nursing home out of state, also helps the residents with meals.
“Through their selfless acts of service, these award recipients have greatly improved the lives of others,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “We hope their stories and their dedication inspire other young people to do the same.”
"We are so pleased to celebrate these student volunteers,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “It’s important to highlight them as powerful examples of how young people can make a difference."
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 affiliates of HandsOn Network, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. More than 5,000 Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, creativity, 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, 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 7. 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.
Since the program began in 1995, more than 100,000 young volunteers nationwide have been honored by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at the local, state or national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland and India. 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 on behalf of President Barack Obama.
For information on all of this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.
About NASSP
NASSP is the leading organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and all school leaders from across the United States and more than 45 countries around the world. The association provides research-based professional development and resources, networking and advocacy to build the capacity of middle level and high school leaders to continually improve student performance. Reflecting its longstanding commitment to student leadership development as well, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society and National Association of Student Councils. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, VA, visit 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, investment management, and real estate services. 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 http://www.news.prudential.com/.
Editors: Graphics depicting the award program’s logo and medallions may be downloaded from spirit.prudential.com.