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The Jefferson/ Students in Action Spring Competition held by the University of Delaware

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Natalie Hines
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Sara Penchina
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Delaware chapter.

The morning of St. Patrick’s Day, dozens of local Delaware high schools filed into Purnell Hall here on our campus.  With their speeches and presentations ready and rehearsed, the students thought back to recall all their volunteer work as a school over the past year.  Events like zumba-thons, dancing events, school volunteer awareness days and even recruiting new high schools to participate in the Jefferson Awards.

The Jefferson Awards date back to 1972 with a goal of creating a Nobel Prize for public service.  Their mission states, “to encourage and honor individuals for their achievements and contributions through public and community service.”  With all the tremendous organizations and groups throughout the country, adolescent volunteers are often forgotten.  The Jefferson Awards then created a program called Students in Action in 2006 that is a national youth leadership program.  It is now active in 325 high schools across the country and encourages young students to become more involved in service.
In order to compete with the Jefferson Awards, each high school must complete 7 goals created by the Students in Action organization.  These goals involve expanding volunteer communication and recruiting various other high schools.

The competition today proved how motivated and eager students in the local area are for service and giving back to their communities.  Schools that do not even require service hours for graduation are currently involved and enjoying planning volunteering events in their schools.  High school students are even creating Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to increase volunteering opportunities and awareness throughout their school.

Gold, Silver and Bronze banners were awarded to each high school that participated in the Delaware Jefferson Awards.  Alexis A. I. DuPont High School, Cape Henlopen High School, Caravel Academy, Dover High School, and William Penn High School were awarded bronze.  Silver went to the Charter School of Wilmington, McKean High School, Red Lion Christian Academy, Sussex Technical High School, Tower Hill School and Ursuline Academy.  Gold went to Padua Academy, Newark High School, and St. Elizabeth High School. 

Overall, these high schools all over the state of Delaware have a strong passion and enthusiasm for service in their school and their community.

Image courtesy of: http://www.studentsinaction.org/where-we-are/delaware/delaware-blog

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Sara studies at the University of Delaware (go blue hens!), and absolutely loves it. She is currently studying communications and english with a professional writing concentration. and is fostering a developing interest in public relations after having been introduced to the field through the Public Relations Student Society of America at UD. That has inspired her to concentrate in public relations in the future, though she is a firm believer in getting a well-rounded education and taking a bunch of classes in various subjects. Wherever her education takes her, Sara has always had a passion for writing and will continue her writing in any way possible throughout the remainder of her college years and beyond! Born in New York City, she appreciates and is preparing for the fast paced lifestyle of a city girl, but enjoys the more relaxed nature of her hometown on the Jersey Shore (though she is not affiliated in any way with the cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore). Only minutes from the beach, Sara tries not to take the beautiful atmosphere for granted. Similarly, she tries not to take anything else in her life for granted, and in this sense, prides herself on her strong work ethic. She believes that when life gets tough, it’s only because something great is on the horizon. She adores music, her family and friends, movies, writing, magazines, and travel. Sara cannot wait to see what else college has in store for her, and is ready to take more risks and live with no regrets. She is beyond thrilled to be part of the Her Campus team, and looks forward to writing and editing content that focuses on an audience of college women dedicated to achieving their aspirations.