CDA teen a top volunteer
Courtesy photo Recognizing that not every student has access to a calculator for use on certain standardized tests, Coeur d’Alene High School junior Lilian Smith wanted to help. She secured more than $2,000 in grants from the CHS Vikings Booster Club and from Northwest Specialty Hospital — enough to buy 250 new calculators for her school. Students got their first chance to use the calculators in October 2019 when they took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. “This is a cause I feel very passionate about: making my school a better place,” Smith said. “I believe t…
BOISE — Lilian Smith, 17, of Coeur d’Alene and Kaleb Chatelain, 14, of Ammon on Tuesday were named Idaho’s top two youth volunteers of 2020 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.
As State Honorees, Lilian and Kaleb 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 from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2020.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Lilian, a junior at Coeur d’Alene High School, co-founded a nonprofit that has organized competitive math teams and/or peer mentoring math programs at 12 local schools over the past three years. When Lilian was in fifth grade, she joined a math team and loved it. But “I knew that many kids in my community, especially at schools that serve low-income families, did not have this opportunity,” she said. So three years ago, Lilian outlined a program that could encourage kids to have fun with STEM subjects while improving their math and critical thinking skills.
First, she persuaded the principal of a local elementary school to let her start an after-school math team. The team did so well that Lilian began forming competitive math teams at other elementary schools in her area, recruiting middle and high school students who excel at math to coach grade school kids each week as they play math games, solve problems and learn new skills. Soon after, she introduced a program in which older elementary students provide one-on-one mentoring to younger learners who need help or extra challenges in math. In addition to recruiting student coaches and mentors, securing funding and charting future plans, Lilian has been the head math coach at one school for the past two years. So far, more than 400 young students have benefited from Lilian’s “Growing the STEM” organization. “The most memorable part of this experience is the time I get to spend with kids each week and getting to see the light bulb go off when they learn something new,” Lilian said.
“In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world,” said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. “We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society’s challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too.”
“Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees – it’s an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change.”