TOLEDO—The Jefferson Awards for Public Service Youth Service Initiative recognized Toledo St. Francis de Sales High School as the Toledo Recipient for Outstanding Service by a High School at the Jefferson Awards National Ceremony and Grand Gala.
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| From left, Sue Conrad, St. Francis service program coordinator; Jonathon Niese, St. Francis honoree; Senator George Voinovich; Samuel Evola, St. Francis Student Leader; Cory Dippold, Youth Leadership Toledo, are pictured in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of St. Francis de Sales High School) |
St. Francis de Sales competed with three other local high schools for this honor and was chosen for best showcasing the programs’ seven goals in the Jefferson Awards Turnkey System and for their philanthropic contribution to the community and their school.
As a part of the festivities, Ohio Senators George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown congratulated student leaders Samuel Evola and Jonathan Niese at a private reception in the Dirksen Senate Building. Other Toledoans on hand to honor the student leaders at the Gala included the St. Francis de Sales Jefferson Awards faculty coordinator Sue Conrad, the director of youth programs from Leadership Toledo Cory Dippold and local Jefferson Award recipient James Findlay.
The student leaders were chosen to represent their school for their dedication and commitment to Christian service, one of the four pillars of a St. Francis education.
“Service for me is a vital part of my life,” says Jonathan, who was the first winner of the Jefferson Award at St. Francis. “Every service project I do I come closer to God and realize how important service really is.”
“I was impressed with all of the great things that had been done by those being honored,” said student leader Samuel Evola of Sylvania, “and I realized that what had been done all started with someone’s small, simple idea to make a difference which gives me the confidence to know I too can make a difference.”
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The Jefferson Awards program was started in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Ohio Senator Robert Taft Jr., and Sam Beard. The aim is to recognize those who have served their communities and to inspire others to volunteer.
About 134 schools in the nation currently participate in the Jefferson Awards Youth Service Initiative and there are expected to be about 200 participating schools next school year.
“Along with the teaching of the faith and experiencing life in a Christian community, service to others is a constitutive element of Catholic schools as taught by the bishops of the USA. For that reason, service is required of every student attending St. Francis,” said Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father Ron Olszewski, president of St. Francis.
“The Jefferson Award is a public recognition of the importance our school places on service,” he continued. “We are especially pleased that two of our student leaders, Jonathan Niese and Samuel Evola, were particularly recognized for their commitment to service. They do service far above and beyond what is required and so provide an example to all our Knights and our entire school community.”
St. Francis de Sales requires all students to complete a minimum 100 hours of community service before graduation as part of their Christian Service Program — 20 hours as a freshman and sophomore with a focus on family, extended family and the neighborhood in which they live, and their parish/church or place of worship, 30 hours as a junior and senior with the focus expanding to local agencies such as soup kitchens, nursing homes, after-school tutoring programs and finally becoming more person-to-person oriented volunteering at hospice centers, muscular dystrophy camp, big brothers programs and tutoring programs.
Ms. Conrad, the Christian service coordinator at St. Francis, says the program works well because of its structure.
“We follow our students closely throughout their four years,” she explains. “Students are required to write reflective papers on their service and they are interviewed about their experiences.”
St. Francis students are currently involved in outreach to more than 115 local agencies, and in Honduras, Appalachia and U.S. inner cities. Last year’s senior class gave more than 20,000 hours of community services.
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