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

San Diego and Castro Valley students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation's capital

Honors also bestowed on other top youth volunteers in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Paul Tran, 14, of San Diego and Aily Zhang, 14, of Castro Valley today were named California's 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).

Paul was nominated by Volunteer San Diego in San Diego, and Aily was nominated by Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley. 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.

Paul, a freshman at The Preuss School UCSD in La Jolla, established an extensive mentoring and tutoring program in his city that provides intensive academic support to underprivileged students in an attempt to keep them in school and enable them to succeed in life. While growing up in an inner-city neighborhood, Paul frequently saw peers skipping school, loitering, engaging in vandalism, and accepting the notion that they are not supposed to succeed. "As a child, I understood that this is not what I wanted for myself," he said. "Now, I understand that this is not what I want for my community."

Paul sought permission from Preuss School officials to recruit 50 fellow students to serve in his "First Buddy" project as mentors and tutors for other students at the school who were struggling academically. He then set up an after-school program for his volunteers to tutor kids in math and science three days a week at two local libraries. At two local Boys and Girls Clubs, he instituted a computer literacy program to teach children from underserved communities the fundamentals of using a computer. In addition, Paul led fund-raising efforts that have collected more than $100,000 to support his activities. "First Buddy" is now the largest peer-to-peer academic support system in San Diego, according to Paul, who is currently working to expand the project to other cities and states. "I want children to understand that, regardless of their financial circumstances, they can succeed," he said.

Aily, an eighth-grader at Canyon Middle School, embarked on a passionate campaign to raise money to fight poverty around the world, after a trip to visit relatives in China made her realize how fortunate her family is in America. "I knew for sure that I wanted to give to impoverished people the things I've taken for granted," she said. "It's not fair for me to be so lucky while people from other countries are barely clinging to life." She began searching for an organization that she could join to work on the issue, and discovered the United Nations' Millennium Promise, an international effort to eliminate poverty by 2025 by providing health care, education, clean water, food production assistance, and roads for disadvantaged people around the world.

As president of her school's community service organization, Aily recruited student volunteers, prepared a poverty relief plan, scheduled regular meetings, and began planning a series of community fund-raising activities, the first of which brought in $1,200. She also has spoken about poverty to school, church and youth groups, and has written to local businesses and newspapers to solicit matching funds. In addition, her group has begun collecting food and clothing for the homeless and other disadvantaged individuals in their own community. "I have developed a life passion," said Aily. "I'll never give up on this cause."

In addition, the program judges recognized 10 other California students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Madison Bradfield-Davis, 14, of Los Angeles, an eighth-grader at Campbell Hall in North Hollywood, has served as a "block captain" for the past three years in a program that seeks to reduce graffiti and litter in her community. Madison monitors her neighborhood by taking different routes to and from school each day, e-mails or faxes reports of graffiti and bulk litter to city officials, participates in city cleanups, attends community meetings, solicits volunteer help, and works to promote community awareness and pride.

Anne Cherniss, 18, of Los Gatos, a senior at Los Gatos High School, organized a "Literature League" of after-school book clubs to encourage a love of reading among inner-city children. In her league, 12 high school students mentor 90 fourth- and fifth-graders from three inner-city schools. Anne works with school and library officials to coordinate schedules, selects books, plans activities, trains high school volunteers, raises funds for books and other program supplies, leads book clubs, and writes encouraging letters to student participants.

Jeremy Heckman, 16, of Paradise, a senior at Camptonville Academy Charter School in Nevada City, designed and built a 3,600-square-foot "garden outdoor classroom" to give young people in his small town a place to learn about agriculture and the planting/harvesting process. Jeremy spent six months researching and planning a design, raising funds and project supplies, soliciting volunteer assistance, clearing the ground and constructing the outdoor learning center.

Christina Khavarian, 16, of San Diego, a junior at The Preuss School UCSD in La Jolla, is president of the "Students for Organ Donation Club" at her school, a volunteer outreach program dedicated to increasing public awareness of the ongoing need for organ donations. Christina has researched and organized presentations, donor registration drives and events; raised funds; and solicited support from other high schools in the area.

Dani Marco, 16, of La Mesa, a junior at West Hills High School in Santee, created a nonprofit organization called "Sox in a Box," which distributes socks and words of inspiration to needy people around the world. Dani solicits donations through speeches, advertising, and community collection drives; writes short inspirational messages to include in every package; and organizes volunteers to sort, package and ship the socks.

Justin Sachs, 17, of Carlsbad, a senior at La Costa Canyon High School, formed an organization dedicated to providing young people with leadership skills, opportunities for volunteer service, and peer counseling. With help from the Anthony Robbins Foundation, Justin developed a concept and programs, solicited teen volunteers, organized leadership and peer counseling training, and coordinated the participation of more than 150 students in a variety of community service activities and events.

Erica Schild, 17, of Rancho Santa Fe, a junior at Francis Parker School in San Diego, developed and now leads a community-based student group that provides computer tutoring and assistance to senior citizens. After researching and developing a plan, Erica organized a school publicity campaign to solicit volunteers, created learning strategies and lessons, distributed brochures, coordinated tutoring schedules at three retirement facilities, and spent hours tutoring individual seniors.

Ariane Tom, 17, of Riverside, a senior at John W. North High School, put together a youth volunteer group that works to expose underprivileged preschool children to science through hands-on learning activities. After developing a plan and publicizing her program, Ariane solicited volunteers from four area high schools, raised funds to purchase supplies, created a curriculum and activity boxes, designed bilingual flyers for parents, organized lesson schedules and led 16 weeks of science workshops at four community preschools.

Gabrielle Wilkerson, of Los Angeles, a junior at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, started a Cancer Awareness Club at her school that has raised $30,000 to help families of cancer-stricken children pay for expenses that insurance won't cover. Gabrielle leads teen volunteers from 12 high schools across the United States, organizes run-walks and other fund-raisers, solicits donations and ongoing sponsorships from corporations and individuals, publicizes activities, and works with hospital social workers to provide financial help to needy children undergoing treatment for cancer.

Jonathan Wu, of Fremont, a senior at Monte Vista High School in Danville, organized the "Science Alliance," a district-wide elementary-school science program that teams fifth-graders with high school honor student mentors to work together on advanced science projects. Jonathan recruits and trains student volunteers, develops schedules, creates projects, raises funds for supplies, and coordinates a year-end science fair for the participants.

"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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