Nathan Duerre, 17, of Bristol and Dalton Howe, 14, of Redfield today
were named South Dakota's top two youth volunteers of 2014 by The
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring
young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Nathan was nominated
by Webster Area High School in Webster, and Dalton was nominated by
Redfield Jr. High School in Redfield. The Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards, now in its 19th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in
partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals
(NASSP).
Nathan, a senior at Webster High School, spearheaded a drive to remodel
the poultry barn at his county’s fairgrounds. Every year, Nathan’s
family helps prepare the fairgrounds for the annual county fair, and
every year Nathan would hear comments about how the barn where poultry
are shown was in need of a major renovation. “Almost every year someone
would get their arms or hands cut from the old cages,” he said. “The
animals’ legs would get caught in the cages, the latches were broken,
much of the wire was rusty and the walls had large holes in them.” To
make matters worse, the roof leaked. “I wanted to remodel the poultry
barn so it was a safe place for people, as well as animals,” he said.
When the opportunity came up to apply for a grant to fund youth projects
in his community, Nathan enlisted the help of an adult family friend to
fill out the paperwork. In November, 2012, he received notice that he
had won the grant and began soliciting donations from the community so
that he could start the work. He then recruited volunteers to help him
strip the existing cages and wire from the walls. The group constructed
150 new cages and secured them to the wall. The team then repaired the
roof and the holes in the walls. Because of the remodeling, the barn was
able to accommodate 50 additional birds during last year’s fair, and not
one injury to human or bird was reported. Even though Nathan no longer
exhibits poultry, he said he is glad he tackled the project and now is
hoping to improve the barn’s lighting and add an additional layer of
gravel on the floor.
Dalton, an eighth-grader at Redfield Junior High School, led a project
to build two youth baseball dugouts at a local ball field to make the
game safer for players. The idea came to Dalton during a baseball game
when he and other players had nowhere to sit but on an exposed bench.
“It was extremely hot and dangerous from foul balls that would come our
way,” said Dalton. He decided he wanted to do something to improve the
situation.
Dalton put together a proposal and met with his city parks and
recreation department’s director and board, who liked the idea and
agreed to help with expenses. Dalton drew up blueprints to take to a
local lumberyard, which donated the materials, then spent the next month
painting the lumber. After recruiting volunteers to help with the
construction, he got a local John Deere dealership to contribute a
tractor, driver and other equipment to the project. Finally, Dalton and
a group of about 20 went to work fitting posts into the ground, putting
up rafters, screwing on the tin and pouring a cement floor for the
dugouts. Dalton knew he’d done a good job when he saw that the city was
redoing dugouts on another field to match the ones he’d built.
As State Honorees, Nathan and Dalton 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 2014.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized two other South Dakota students as
Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service
activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are South Dakota's Distinguished Finalists for 2014:
Gavin Brucklacher, 18, of Philip, S.D., a senior at Philip High
School, helped to raise more than $13,000 to support his town’s movie
theater and its transition to digital projection to help keep the
theater open. Gavin, an active member of his school’s Family, Career and
Community Leaders of America chapter, worked on several fundraisers,
including selling raffle tickets to win a full-sized playhouse that he
helped to build.
Shelby Specht, 13, of Sioux Falls, S.D., a seventh-grader at
Harrisburg Middle School, raised $750 to support the Children’s Miracle
Network by selling homemade candy bouquets through her “Kandy for Kids”
program. Shelby chose to create a project to support the network because
her brother required life-saving equipment provided by the organization
following a surgery.
“We applaud each of these young people for their exemplary volunteer
service,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “They use
their time and talents to make a meaningful difference in their
communities, and we hope their example inspires others to do the same.”
“By going above and beyond in their volunteer service, these students
have brought positive change to communities across the country,” said
JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “Congratulations to each
and every one of them on this well-deserved honor.”
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 5, 10 of the State Honorees –
five middle level and five high school students – will be named
America’s top youth volunteers of 2014. 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 100,000 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 and China. 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 national voice for middle level and high
school principals, assistant principals, and all school leaders from
across the United States and more than 36 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
Copyright Business Wire 2014