Louisiana's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 21st Annual National Awards Program
Cottonport and Shreveport students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation’s capital
Honors also bestowed on youth volunteers in Covington, Moreauville, New Orleans and Mandeville
BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Stanley Celestine, 16, of Cottonport and Ashini Modi, 12, of Shreveport today were named Louisiana's top two youth volunteers of 2016 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Stanley was nominated by Louisiana School for the Agricultural Sciences in Bunkie, and Ashini was nominated by Caddo Parish 4-H in Shreveport. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 21st year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Stanley, a junior at Louisiana School for the Agricultural Sciences, is trying to decrease the incidence of childhood obesity and improve the general health of all citizens in his community through an initiative he calls “Healthy Avoyelles.” Three years ago, Stanley formed a nonprofit mentoring program to help elementary students improve their science, technology and math skills. During that project, Stanley noticed that many young children in the rural, economically depressed Avoyelles Parish were obese and had serious health problems often associated with being overweight. “Obese children have a higher percentage of becoming obese adults,” said Stanley. “So I set out to educate families about the health risks associated with child obesity, the many causes, and how to create a healthier lifestyle.”
After researching the subject of obesity, Stanley began planning events and applying for grants to finance his endeavors. The majority of people in his community, he said, are the working poor who often do not have easy access to health services. So Stanley organized a back-to-school festival where families could receive basic health services and information about healthy living. He also started a health and wellness walk to promote exercise, secured a grant to teach healthy cooking to 500 adults, and is planning a youth-run community compost garden to provide better nutrition. Stanley estimates that his health initiative has affected more than 2,000 children to date.
Ashini, a sixth-grader at Caddo Parish Middle Magnet School, established a 1,500-book library at a local homeless shelter so that the children there could “explore, imagine and find the beauty of reading.” With the help of family and friends, Ashini collected children’s books in her community from individuals, schools, public libraries, a thrift shop and a bookstore. They all went into a room at the Providence House shelter that is now called the “Reading Rainforest,” decorated by Ashini and her family with handmade trees and tropical animals and reptiles.
To further encourage kids at the shelter to use the new library, Ashini started a story time at the facility. Several times a year, usually on a holiday, she reads a book to the children and supervises a related craft project. “Founding the library program and story time has given me a profound joy of giving,” said Ashini. “I sincerely hope that every child at Providence House will utilize the library to develop a love of books, which can open many new doors and possibilities for them.”
As State Honorees, Stanley and Ashini 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 2016.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized four other Louisiana students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are Louisiana's Distinguished Finalists for 2016:
Beverly Brown, 17, of Covington, La., a senior at St. Scholastica Academy, has taught a finance and entrepreneurship course to 300 children ages 9-14 attending school in a low income neighborhood and at an at-risk youth activity center. Beverly, who created a curriculum to teach the children about supply and demand, fiscal responsibility, marketing, management and charitable giving, helped the children create and run a lemonade stand, and make and sell products at a holiday market.
Luke Corona, 14, of New Iberia, La., an eighth-grader at Catholic High, has been volunteering at a local nursing home’s bingo game once a month for the past four years as part of “Senior Servers,” a group he started with his friends. Luke and his friends create a theme for the monthly games – for example, handing out treat bags for Halloween and handmade cards for Mother and Father’s Day – and also donated iPods and iTunes cards that the home uses to engage and calm residents with dementia.
Anna Bell Hines, 17, of New Orleans, La., a senior at Benjamin Franklin High School, has served for the past three years as a youth ambassador for the Louisiana chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green School Challenge, and in that role has visited local schools to educate students about the environment and sustainability. Anna Bell also helped her chapter host the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, was a keynote speaker at The Green Schools’ National Conference in Virginia and worked with the council on a promotional video.
Sean Noel, 14, of Mandeville, La., an eighth-grader at St. Paul's School in Covington, created a project to honor local veterans called “St. Tammany Remembers,” and created a website to archive the names and contact information of all local veterans so they can be invited to and participate in veterans’ events. Sean, who has collected a list of 400 local veterans, has also helped to collect and distribute 4,500 care packages for troops overseas, organized color honor guard services for funerals of local veterans, and has spoken at numerous veterans’ events.
“Prudential commends each of these young volunteers for using their creativity and compassion to bring positive change to their communities,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “We hope their stories inspire others to consider how they can make a difference, too.”
“We are pleased to honor these students not only for their exemplary acts of service, but for the powerful example they’ve set for their peers,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “Congratulations to each of the 2016 honorees.”
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 HandsOn Network affiliates, 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 2, 10 of the State Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2016. These National 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 115,000 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 on behalf of President Barack Obama.
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 middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States and 35 countries around the world. The association connects and engages school leaders through advocacy, research, education, and student programs. NASSP advocates on behalf of all school leaders to ensure the success of each student and strengthens school leadership practices through the design and delivery of high quality professional learning experiences. 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 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 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.
Editors: For full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions, click here: http://bit.ly/Xi4oFW
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160209005119/en/
Prudential Financial
Harold Banks, (973) 802-8974 or (973) 216-4833
[email protected]
Source: Prudential Financial, Inc.