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

Brentwood and Nashville students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation's capital

Honors also bestowed on other top youth volunteers in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Taylor Cox, 16, of Brentwood and Miles Karro, 14, of Nashville today were named Tennessee'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).

Taylor was nominated by Ensworth High School in Nashville, and Miles was nominated by Harding Academy in Nashville. 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 sophomore at Ensworth High School, works year-round to educate the public about juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. Taylor discovered she had JRA when she was 13. "Most people, including myself, thought arthritis was just an old person's disease," she said. Even though nearly 300,000 kids in the U.S. have juvenile arthritis, "I found JRA is a mystery to kids, adults, and even doctors," she said, adding that there is a shortage of pediatric rheumatologists and a need for better medication.

To address this situation, Taylor delivers speeches at school assemblies, student council and scout meetings, community service organizations and corporate staff meetings. She urges schools to hold Halloween or Valentine's Day fund-raisers for JRA, giving them instructions on how to run the event and providing candy or flowers for them to sell. Four schools participated in Taylor's fund-raisers last year, collecting nearly $10,000 for the Arthritis Foundation. Taylor also solicits donations from corporate sponsors, leads a team in an annual walkathon, and meets with government officials to make sure they know about juvenile arthritis. "People need to realize JRA does not just affect the person with arthritis, but it also affects family and friends and diminishes so many dreams," said Taylor.

Miles, an eighth-grader at Harding Academy, helped his mother start a program in Nashville that collects flowers after they've been used in weddings, funerals and other events, and delivers them to hospice patients, nursing homes, service agencies, and homeless shelters. Miles and his family spent many hours volunteering for a similar program when they lived in Birmingham, Ala., and wanted to continue after moving to Nashville. First they had to prepare a headquarters, so Miles helped refurbished an old barn on their property. Then he and his mother found a local hospice organization that wanted flowers. "They agreed that fresh flowers would provide a bright spot not only for their patients, but also for patients' family members, visitors and caregivers," said Miles.

Miles also helped design an informational brochure, and began contacting event planners, florists, gardeners and others to let them know about the program, called "Perenity." In addition, he spearheaded an effort to collect vases for the flowers they deliver. Perenity now provides flowers to numerous care homes and service organizations, and has more than 25 volunteers. Miles keeps busy by picking up flowers, reorganizing large arrangements into smaller bouquets, loading delivery vehicles, delivering the flowers and visiting with recipients. "People sometimes worry about volunteering because they think that they do not have enough time or the right skills," Miles said. "The reality is, it is simple to bring a bright spot to someone else, and the person who benefits the most is often the volunteer.

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

Leigh Andrews, 18, of Hendersonville, a senior at Beech Senior High School, raised $1,000 for the Monroe Carell Jr. Vanderbilt Children's Hospital by recording and selling "Leigh's Luvabyes," a CD of lullabies for young children. Leigh recorded two original lullabies and 10 other songs for the CD, designed a cover, and marketed her product at schools and her church. The proceeds have been used to purchase 45 toys for young patients to play with while they're in the hospital.

Congcong Guo, 17, of Memphis, a senior at White Station High School, initiated a campaign that has raised $13,000 to purchase educational materials and supplies for disadvantaged children in rural China. Congcong organized a fund-raising luncheon attended by 200 people, sought donations through other activities, and set up informational displays to educate the public. She then traveled to China at her own expense to deliver study materials, books, supplies, instruments, financial aid, and living supplies to schools in need.

Emily Hollingsworth, 17, of Sevierville, a member of the Sevier County 4-H and a senior at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School in Gatlinburg, collected more than 11,000 new and gently used books to help restock a Louisiana school library devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Emily distributed collection boxes to schools and other locations throughout the community, created an advertising campaign, recruited volunteers, and coordinated a Valentine's Day donation rally. She then solicited donations to pay for transportation, and delivered the books to the St. Bernard Parish Unified School in Chalmette.

Andee Johnson, 15, of Brentwood, a sophomore at The Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, led a holiday effort that enabled homeless people to "earn" small gifts for their loved ones by attending drug, alcohol or education classes, or participating in community service. Andee's program, called "More Than a Toy," helped more than 125 homeless men, women and youth reconnect with their families.

Korcasha Manning, 13, of Knoxville, an eighth-grader at Cedar Bluff Middle School, is working to pass legislation that would encourage more adult accountability in crimes involving underage drinking. Korcasha, whose brother was involved in a deadly drinking-related car crash, researched keg registration laws, delivered public speeches, and visited government officials to lobby for legislative changes.

Kaylee Radzyminski, 15, of Cleveland, a sophomore at Cleveland High School, has collected 6,500 new and gently used music CDs, DVDs, and books-on-CD for troops serving in combat zones overseas. To solicit donations for her "Tunes 4 the Troops" program, Kaylee has spoken at churches and other organizations, garnered publicity from newspapers and radio stations, and organized collection drives at high school football games. She hopes to collect 500,000 discs by the end of 2008.

"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.

Prudential Financial companies serve individual and institutional customers worldwide and include The Prudential Insurance Company of America, one of the largest life insurance companies in the U.S. These companies offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, mutual funds, annuities, pension and retirement-related services and administration, asset management, securities brokerage, banking and trust services, real estate brokerage franchises and relocation services. For more information, visit www.prudential.com.