June 2015 | Vol. 15 Iss. 6
FREE After the Prudential Spirit of Community awards ceremony, “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts jokes with Utah’s top youth volunteers, Wes Orton, of Salt Lake City, and Amelia SlamaCatron, of Sandy. Photo courtesy of Zach Harrison Photography
ancient site
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healthy partnership
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patrons get wise
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Sandy Teen Honored For Volunteerism At National Award Ceremony In Washington, D.C. By Julie Slama
U
tah’s top middle school volunteer of 2015, Amelia SlamaCatron, 14, was honored May 3 in the nation’s capitol for her outstanding volunteer service during the 20th annual presentation of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Amelia, who is an eighth-grade student at Midvale Middle School, resides in Sandy. Amelia, along with other top youth volunteers from across the United States and several other countries, received a $1,000 award and personal congratulations from “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Along with the monetary award, which Amelia plans to put toward her college education, she received a silver medallion and the all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the four days of recognition events. “I didn’t do something specific for the award, but they highlighted the 120 hours I gave service to Treehouse Children’s Museum in Ogden,” Amelia said. “I have helped coach youth sports
teams, helped do yard work and paint a refurbished home for a family who was sheltered at The Road Home, put up flags for the 9/11 Healing Field and helped a younger Girl Scout troop for five years. Service isn’t something I go out of my way to do: it’s just what I do and part of who I am. You don’t have to change the world to do volunteer work. If you just help one person, you have showed you care and changed his or her world.” The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary Schools Principals, named Amelia as Utah’s top middle school youth volunteer in February. Her assistant principal, B.J. Weller, submitted a recommendation after Amelia turned in an application. Weller, who said she is the first student to win the award at Midvale Middle School, presented the medallion to Amelia at a school assembly on April 3.
Teen Honored continued on page 4
top educator
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quotable community:
“ Technology is changing how we teach and learn, and we need to integrate it more into our classrooms.”
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