BY BRIAN HEWS
Several area students earned Congress’ highest honor for civilian youth, in the program’s first-ever virtual Gold Medal Ceremony this past weekend.
This medal honors youth for their commitment to voluntary public service, as well as personal development and physical fitness.
The students are: Kenneth Kim, Artesia; Conner Ishibashi, Lakewood; William Kim, La Mirada; Charlotte Park, La Mirada; from Cerritos were Ashley Lee, Tommy Noh Thrisha Senthilnathan, Ina Song, Ethan Wong, Ashley Woo.
The event occurred on Saturday September 26, 2020, when members of the United States Congress honored 478 youth from across America.
Each Gold Medalist accumulated over 800 hours over the span of at least two years in the program areas of Voluntary Public Service, Personal Development, and Physical Fitness in addition to planning and going on an in-depth Exploration/Expedition.
The medalists were mailed their Gold Medal and ceremony gifts in time for the event which featured several special events. Chairman of the Congressional Award, Paxton Baker gave insightful virtual interviews of the ceremony’s special guests Wolf Blitzer, Senator Mike Enzi, and Emmitt Smith—each of whom gave words of encouragement and advice.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both gave their congratulations to the medalists, along with remarks from a list of Senators and House Representatives including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-8), and Congresswoman Liz Cheney (WY- 0).
Gold Medalists were also able to enter a raffle for a gift giveaway, participate in smaller networking groups led by Congressional Award Board Members, and see videos submitted by their peers sharing their experiences with The Congressional Award program.
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