Post falls siblings receive Congressional Awards

COEUR d’ALENE — Annie Cuentas is following in her big brother's footsteps.

"She's followed in doing a lot of what I've done but doing it in her own unique way," said Sam Cuentas, 16. "She's working just as hard if not harder and trying to find her passion."

Both Sam and Annie, home-schooled students from Post Falls, were honored for their hard work when they received Congressional Award medals during a ceremony Tuesday in Congressman Raul Labrador's Coeur d'Alene office.

Annie, 14, received the bronze award and Sam received the gold.

"They have learned goal setting, to make a goal and to work to complete it and not rush through it," said their mom, Lori, who advises other Congressional Award participants. "When they see all the hours they've accumulated, they light up and they get this self-accomplished feeling that, 'Wow, I've done this,' and now they get this medal.

"With the Olympics being on, they can kind of relate to the Olympic athletes."

The Congressional Award program is facilitated by the United States Congress as a challenge to youths ages 14-23 to showcase their abilities to commit to goals, log every hour of work and push themselves to their highest potential.

Those who complete all requirements earn medals — bronze, silver or gold — and each level requires a certain amount of work in four categories: volunteer public service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition/exploration.

Like her brother, Annie volunteered with Christian Youth Theater North Idaho and Kootenai Health to gain experience and community service hours.

"It was a fun way to not only get to know the hospital, but interact with patients because that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to volunteer there," she said of being a "wayfinder," or patient escort, at Kootenai Health. "The food in the cafeteria is really good, too."

She said a big motivation for getting through the program is her grandpa, who died last year.

"He always pushed me to get a good education and not fall behind so I could live happily," she said. "He lived quite a long time and was very smart and managed his time well."

She said she plans to pursue the gold Congressional Award, like Sam did, and expects to receive the silver medal next year. She said it's pretty cool they received their awards together.

"I feel honored to be next to him and following in his footsteps," she said.

Sam, who earned his silver Congressional Award at the Idaho Congressional Award Ceremony in Boise in 2014, said his experience working through the program has changed the way he manages his time, his communication and his life.

"Overall, it's really helped me to learn that I need to be responsible for my own life," he said. "You have to work for it and make decisions for yourself and go with your own consequences."

Sam said since he has completed the Congressional Award program, he is looking forward to continuing his volunteer work and hoping to get into a good medical school to someday become a surgeon.

"Plenty of hours at a hospital looks pretty good on a transcript," he said. "It's a field that really interests me that I'd like to get into."

Sam said he wanted to give kudos to his Congressional Award adviser, Anna Heisey, for pushing him and giving him tips and suggessions to efficiently get through the work.

He said students who are interested in the program and having more attractive resumes should "go for it."

"It looks all scary and daunting in the beginning, but it's not that hard," Sam said. "I found out a lot of the stuff I already did in my daily life. I definitely encourage everyone to put in the effort to do it because it will open so many doors for you and get you so many places."

The Congressional Award program is non-partisan, voluntary and non-competitive. Participants earn certificates as well as the medals. Recipients often go on to receive scholarships, job opportunities and other perks.

The program costs $15 to register, either by hard copy or at www.congressionalaward.org/program/register-now/register-online.

Other recipients at Tuesday's ceremony:

• Joshua Heisey of Coeur d'Alene — 2015 gold

• Silas Kidd of Post Falls — 2015 bronze

• Ellie Heisey of Coeur d'Alene — 2016 bronze

• Joseph Broder of Coeur d'Alene — 2016 bronze