More than 280 Upper School students from The Episcopal School of Dallas received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing a minimum of 100 community service hours in a 12-month period. More than 65 percent of the Upper School students worked together to log more than 25,000 total hours of community service projects.
This year, 61 seniors were recognized for working with more than 60 Dallas organizations. Of this group, 53 percent of the students from the Class of 2015 have received the honor all four years of high school. The students who received the award for four consecutive years are: Brock Anglin, Saniha Aziz, Julian Baldridge, Johnathan Barr,Andrew Blair, Alyssa Bower,John Cannata, Lili Clark, Claire Cramm, Alicia Crenshaw, Tate Curington, Kendal DeSantis, Alexander Eggers, Jared Eichner, Gordon Gehan, Steven Gonzalez, Jason Goolsby, Christina Gordon, Winston Guillory, Liza Hamlin, James Hands, Brooks Hardcastle, Clayton Helbing, Madeline Hoodis, Harry Hull, Emma Jenevein, Caroline Jones, Matthew Kelley, Michael Kerr, Leyla Khotanzad, Libby Laughlin, Connie Lee,Rainey Lynch, Larson Lynn, Melanie Maguire, Gretchen Mahoney, Margot McGee,Alison McPherson, Haley Morway, Joey Mrozek, Claire North, Coco Pidgeon, Christina Radford, Caille Riley, Abigail Rivera, Joseph Rooney, Charlotte Scott, Sabrina Scott,Victoria Siu, Marisa Soto, Kristina Stukalin, Christina Tatum, Eliza Wagley, Alexandra Williamson, Sophie Wilson, and Haley Wood.
In the other grades, 75 juniors, 78 sophomores, and 74 freshmen were acknowledged for their community service commitments. In all, 66 percent of ESD’s Upper School students received the award. Several of the students choose to donate their time to multiple organizations; several seniors and juniors also sit on various leadership boards. Service to others is one of ESD’s four Founding Tenets, and each student must fulfill community service requirements to graduate.
Students received their pins and certificates during two special Chapel services on February 11 and 12. Karl Rathjen, Assistant Chief of Staff at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, and Meg Jones Boyd, the Director of Volunteer Services and Guest Relations at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, spoke at the services.
“You all have created a culture of volunteer service at ESD, and I know you will continue that beyond ESD,” Director of Community Service, Christi Morrow said. “Kids who volunteer become teenagers who volunteer, and teens who volunteer become adults who give back to their community.”
The President’s Volunteer Service Award was established in 2003 by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation to recognize the valuable contributions to community volunteers. Each award recipient is given an award pin, a personalized certificate of achievement, and a congratulatory letter from President Barack Obama.