10/16/2008
K-State Research and Extension
WICHITA, Kan. - Good deeds might seem to go unnoticed, but it´s not the case for a dozen teens honored recently by the Kansas PRIDE Program.
    
Recognizing young people who work to improve their community can help to nurture continuing engagement in community service, said Dan Kahl, Kansas State University Research and Extension spokesperson for the Kansas PRIDE Program, a statewide volunteer-driven community development effort co-administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce.
    
Student-award recipients, who are in grades 5-12, were nominated for the awards by their communities and eligible for PRIDE Awards in two categories: Youth Community Service Awards are given to recognize an ongoing commitment to community service, and Youth Leadership Awards honor youth who take a leadership role in initiating and/or leading a specific community improvement project.
    
Efforts vary to match community needs, but each of the nominations has been evaluated by a review panel of community development professionals, Kahl said. The youth awards were presented during the PRIDE Day Community Development Conference Oct. 11 in Wichita, Kan.
    
Award recipients receive a commemorative plaque, and this year, the nominee earning the highest overall score from the review panel - Samantha Schneider, from Lucas - also received a check for $350 to fund a future community improvement, Kahl said.
    
Schneider´s nomination for the PRIDE Youth Community Service Award cited her efforts on behalf of the Lucas Chamber of Commerce, Arts and Humanities Council, Youth Group, Girl Scouts, and the Lucas Area Community Theater. Her job jar has included a wide range of tasks ranging from community cleanups and planting and watering flowers to beautify the downtown area to collecting food for the local food bank and helping to organize community dinners and festivals.
    
Schneider´s enthusiasm for community service also has inspired her peers to get involved, Kahl said.
    
The teen volunteer credits her interest in community service to early opportunities to help her stepmother, whom, she said, "set a good example."
    
"My stepmother made reaching out to the community part of our family life," Schneider said. "I was young, but old enough to follow along and help as I could."
    
"These early experiences helped me to begin to recognize the importance of helping others and giving back to the community," said Schneider, who described a favorite community service project in recent years as decorating Lucas´ mini-park for holidays throughout the year.
    
Joining Schneider in the 2007-08 Kansas PRIDE Youth Community Service Winners´ Circle are Addison Swain, from Bushton; Samuel Fishburn, Haven; and Erica Meyer, Stafford.
    
Swain tackled a local park improvement project; Fishburn has dedicated his time to the Haven Food Banks and a children´s ministry program, and Meyer has focused her volunteer efforts on activities for children, a nursing home ministry, local food drive and community cleanups.     
    
Runners-up for the 2007-08 Awards include Tyler Montgomery, from Almena; Ashley Adams, Argonia, and Devin Baalman, Grinnell.
    
Recipients of the 2008 Kansas PRIDE Youth Leadership Awards include Amy Shearer, Almena: Brian Swenson, Basehor; Steven Mense, Grinnell, and Sarah Botcher, Stafford.
    
As president of the Almena Junior PRIDE organization, Shearer is enthusiastic about community service and inspires others to make a commitment to improve community, Kahl said. With her leadership, Junior PRIDE activities have included painting signs for the east and west entrances to Almena, staffing a town historic site (once the
local jail) that is popular with visitors, and securing donations for the after-prom party.
    
Swenson also has served as president of the local youth PRIDE Committee and, as such, provided leadership for the community´s recycling center. He also was instrumental in building and maintaining a flower bed to enhance the PRIDE "Welcome to Basehor"
sign and helped with the setting up a tent and selling fireworks as a fundraiser for community development projects.
   
Mense provided leadership in scraping, patching, and painting the local community-owned grocery store, and also helped with the Grinnell City Park Improvement Project.
    
Botcher stepped up to lead a food drive that netted 400 pounds of donations at a time when the community food pantry was running low. She also worked on a community fruit tree project and strives to bring youth and adults together in community service.
    
Runner-up for the Youth Leadership Award is Ashton Archer, from Lucas.
    
Archer, who is relatively new to the community, volunteered to help plan and staff fundraisers for school projects - and got acquainted in the process. She also volunteers with the Lucas Area Community Theater, a community-owned cinema and community room, and has inspired others to get involved.
    
The 2008 PRIDE Youth Awards were sponsored by Black Hills Energy (formerly Aquila), Kahl said.
    
More information about PRIDE programs for youth and adults to improve their Kansas communities of varying populations is available by contacting Kahl at 785-532-5840 or on the PRIDE Web site:
http://www.kansasprideprogram.ksu.edu/PRIDE/welcome.htm.