By: Francesca Vidal
Founded by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation in 2003, the President’s Volunteer Service Award is given to those whose volunteer work leaves a positive impact on the communities around them. To be eligible for the award, nominees need to have volunteered for a minimum of 100 hours. Those who volunteered for 100 to 174 hours were eligible for the bronze award, the silver award was given to those who volunteered 175 to 249 hours, and the gold award was awarded to those who volunteered for 250 hours or more.
Only certified organizations are eligible to nominate individuals to receive the award. This year, one local organization, Prairie STEM, a nonprofit that strives to provide STEM education and SEL to students in Omaha, Nebraska, was able to nominate and award eight volunteers from JuSTEMagine. From assembling STEM kits to teaching kids how to build robots, these volunteers worked tirelessly to spread their passion to others.
Our volunteers represent the Omaha chapter, Greendale, and Milwaukee Chapters. Claire Cenovic, Riley Hawkins, Ari Scheuer, and Megan Volkening were all awarded the bronze award, Akshay Mehta and Ava Scheuer were awarded the silver award, while Jack Cenovic and Genevieve Skibicki were awarded the gold award.
“STEM volunteering is important because it provides students with invaluable opportunities to learn about new and exciting concepts and improve critical thinking. On top of that, STEM volunteering empowers students, and it helps students build confidence in their own abilities. Ultimately, I enjoy STEM volunteering because it is truly a way to empower the next generation of innovators” says Jack Cenovic. Jack volunteered for a total of 320 hours this year. All together, these eight members volunteered for 1,198 hours.
In the near future, Prairie STEM is planning on hosting an award ceremony to commemorate the hard work of these eight JuSTEMagine members. Congratulations!
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