Arkansas' Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 12th Annual National Awards Program.

Little Rock and Benton students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation's capital

Honors also bestowed on other top youth volunteers in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Taylor Bell, 17, of Little Rock and Laura Talbert, 13, of Benton today were named Arkansas' top two youth volunteers for 2007 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 12th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Taylor was nominated by Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, and Laura was nominated by Bauxite High School in Bauxite. As State Honorees, 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 - one middle level and one high school youth - from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America's top youth volunteers for 2007 at that time.

Taylor, a junior at Pulaski Academy, created Little Rock's first organized soccer league for special-needs children. Because his mother, a speech pathologist, works with special-needs kids, Taylor says he has long recognized that "children, regardless of their abilities, are much more alike than they are different. Unfortunately, I also have seen how some children have limited opportunities to be part of a team because of their special needs." Taylor is also passionate about soccer, so he decided to combine these two interests by introducing the sport to children with disabilities.

Taylor contacted the Arkansas Soccer Association and the Little Rock Futbol Club for assistance, researched programs in other cities and states, met with school principals, and scheduled a trial summer camp in 2004. When the response confirmed the viability of an ongoing league, Taylor secured uniforms and playing fields, recruited coaches, created team rosters, and formulated schedules. He conducts two eight-week seasons a year, spending three hours every Saturday coaching his players, and up to 10 additional hours a week on administrative tasks. To date, 87 special-needs children and 88 teen coaches have participated in the program. Taylor hopes to start similar programs in other parts of Arkansas, and last summer trained 22 coaches in Texas. He also is developing a coaching manual and training younger volunteers to take over when he goes to college. "When you find something you are passionate about, you have to do it - if you don't, then you will spend the rest of your life regretting it," he said.

Laura, 13, an eighth-grader at Bauxite High School, assembled and shipped care packages containing "neck coolers" and other personal items to a 224-member Army unit almost every week during its recent tour in Iraq. When a relative serving in the Army's 1035th Unit wrote home about the 130ae heat and lack of hygiene supplies and other personal items, "it became a personal duty for me to help and let them know we care," Laura said.

With assistance from her mother, grandmother and two friends, Laura purchased materials for 240 camouflage neck coolers and then sewed them together. Laura also shopped for books, magazines, games, holiday decorations, snack food, personal care items, and small "goodwill" items such as coloring books for the soldiers to give to Iraqi children. Laura and a few friends then sorted, packed, and mailed packages to the Army unit on a regular basis. In addition, Laura shipped supplies to a soldier's family after their home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. "During all of this I learned to be more thankful for what I have, and the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted," she said.

In addition, the program judges recognized four other Arkansas students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Marybeth Allinson, 18, of Benton, a senior at Benton High School, played a leading role in funding and constructing a youth-built home for a needy family in her community. While serving in a variety of leadership roles in a youth-run Habitat for Humanity chapter, Marybeth helped organize fund-raisers, handled publicity campaigns, recruited and managed teen volunteers, wrote grant applications, scheduled work sessions, and participated in the actual construction of the new home.

Vakeyia Dulaney, 18, of Little Rock, a senior at Hall High School, helped turn an abandoned lot into a popular community playground. With help from neighborhood residents and civic organizations, Vakeyia and other youth volunteers researched and planned the project, created a budget, wrote a grant proposal, cleaned and leveled the lot, created a nature path, and installed playground equipment.

Morgan Holt, 16, of Conway, a sophomore at Conway High East, developed a program to teach weekly dance and cheerleading classes to disadvantaged children at the Conway Boys and Girls Club. Morgan develops lesson plans, recruits teen volunteer assistants, works with club officials to schedule classes and other activities, and leads the children in cheer and dance activities for one hour each week.

Sydney Steely, 17, of Murfreesboro, a member of the Pike County 4-H and a senior at Murfreesboro High School, created a six-week, library-based reading program last spring that provided free books to 5- to 8-year-old children as a reward for completing weekly reading assignments. Sydney obtained a grant to buy books, advertised her program, recruited other volunteers, planned and scheduled lessons, and conducted entertaining activities to encourage reading. Nearly 300 books were given away to her young readers.

"People as caring and committed as these young students are critical to the future of our neighborhoods, our cities and our nation," said Arthur Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential. "By recognizing these honorees, we hope to encourage other young people - our future leaders - and all Americans to think more about the value and importance of volunteering in their communities."

"NASSP is pleased to once again join Prudential in recognizing these young people for their amazing accomplishments," remarked Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "This year's honorees are proof that the youth of today are conscientious and capable of performing selfless acts of kindness in their local communities, on a national scale and at the global level."

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 Volunteer Centers, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award this past November. More than 7,500 Local Honorees were then reviewed by state-level judges, who selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees will tour the capital's landmarks, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. In addition, 10 of them - five middle level and five high school students - will be named National Honorees on May 7 by a prestigious national selection committee. These 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.

Serving on the national selection committee will be U.S. Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota; Arthur Ryan of Prudential; actor Richard Dreyfuss; Alma Powell, chair of America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth; Robert Goodwin, president and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation; Amy B. Cohen, director of Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA; Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; Kathryn Forbes, national chair of volunteers, American Red Cross; Joe Militello, president of NASSP; and two 2006 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Ajay Mangal of Pascagoula, Miss., and Geneva Johnson of the Bronx, N.Y.

In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will be distributing President's Volunteer Service Awards to more than 4,150 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represent the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. The program is part of a broad youth-service initiative by Prudential that includes a youth leadership training program administered by the Points of Light Foundation; a free booklet of volunteer ideas for young people offered through the Federal Citizen Information Center; and a Web site featuring profiles of outstanding youth volunteers, volunteer tips and project ideas for students, an electronic newspaper on youth volunteerism, and more (www.prudential.com/spirit). The Spirit of Community Awards program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and is being introduced this year in Ireland.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit www.prudential.com/spirit or www.principals.org/prudential.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals -- the preeminent organization and the national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders -- provides its members with the professional resources to serve as visionary leaders. NASSP promotes the intellectual growth, academic achievement, character development, leadership development, and physical well-being of youth through its programs and student leadership services. NASSP sponsors the National Honor Society[TM], the National Junior Honor Society[TM] and the National Association of Student Councils[TM]. For more information on NASSP, NHS, NJHS or NASC, visit www.principals.org.

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