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Presidential Volunteer Service Awards

9/7/2022
By: Todd Martin
Giving back was the theme repeated again and again when a group of community volunteers visited six Killeen ISD schools to present awards to students for exceptional volunteer service.
At each site, Killeen Volunteers, Inc. President Riakos Adams congratulated the students for selfless service and challenged them to keep going.
At elementary, middle and high schools, he pointed out that money is not the only means of payment for valuable work.
Some jobs pay in the currency of satisfaction helping someone else. Occasionally, though, the payment is a little more tangible.
A total of 33 KISD students earned Presidential Volunteer Service Awards at the Gold, Silver or Bronze levels based on their number of reported hours of service.
They received either a medal or a coin and a signed letter from the President of the United States.

The largest group of service award winners were Chaparral High School freshmen who earned their hours last year as students at Patterson Middle School.
Those include Bronze winners Zachary Repine, Ayanna Del Hoyo and Lilliann Wyche; Silver winners Jessica Rogers and Ryan Dawn; and Gold winners Aireanna Jones, Lya Bailey, Kamilia Merchan-Liu, Grant Wiley, Isabella Soto and Armie Melton.
Melton amassed 232 service hours last year. She said it is important to her to give back to a community that has invested in her.
“The community, especially Killeen, gives so much. We need to give back,” she said. “It feels nice to be recognized.”
In addition to putting in time at school for cleanup and workdays, she is a volunteer in community theater and in her church.
Early College High School freshmen, also earning their service hours at Patterson last year, include Bronze medalists Lara Gray, Sharmaine Martin and Jessica Province.

Gray recalled that she did a lot of service through the National Junior Honor Society, including reading to children and handing out tickets for a charity event.
“It’s important to give back to the community,” she said. “We are given so much opportunity and some people are less fortunate than we are. It is a reflection of how fortunate we are.”
Current Ellison freshmen who earned service hours at Patterson include Bronze winner Garland “Trip” Potvin, Silver winner Callie Walker and Gold winner John Dylan Dickerson.
At 324 hours, Dickerson earned the most of any KISD student reporting hours. He completed service through National Junior Honor Society collecting food, cleaning up a park and working on school cleanup projects.
“It’s a fun community,” he said of the groups that serve together. “I enjoy spending time with people helping. I also like to see the progress we make.”
Nolan Middle School sixth-graders Jaiden Sanmhueza-Damiano and Ryker Sparlin earned Bronze medals. Both attended Skipcha Elementary School.

“It means a lot to me,” said Sparlin. “I can still improve and get better and help more people.” He worked on projects to benefit a homeless shelter and an animal shelter. “It helps the community and makes the world a better place.”
“I want to help other people,” said Damiano, “so they can excel in life. It means a lot to me to get a presidential award.”
Current Skipcha fifth-graders Ryder Edwards, Tinsley Sparlin and Kendrick Almufla all earned Bronze awards. Former student Molly Mitchell also earned a Bronze.
Maude Moore Wood Elementary fifth-grader Demetrius Houston and Timber Ridge Elementary fifth-grader Taylor Guillin also won Bronze awards.
Skipcha Principal Jane Apodaca congratulated her current and former students who won service awards.
She reminded students they could earn volunteer hours through Student Council, Junior Student 2 Student, flag detail, Science Olympiad volunteering and on the school’s morning news show to name a few.
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