SILVER AWARD

Eva Joudrey, Grade 10

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is one that is internationally recognised. Leadership, perseverance, teamwork, and cooperation are some of the many skills you develop and acquire upon accomplishing this award. As its name suggests, it was established by the late Duke of Edinburgh as a way to challenge adolescents and young adults aged 14-24 to attain standards of achievement and explore interests and develop outside of the classroom.

This year has seen our first cohort of silver award students. The Duke of Edinburgh Award composes of 4 main elements. Service, skill, physical recreation, and an adventurous journey. The difference between the bronze and silver awards is the time required for each skill is longer. To achieve the silver award, one must complete 26 hours of skill, the act of service and physical recreation by entering ‘logs’ that describe each session where the activity took place.

Whilst the adventurous journey consists of three days and two nights of walking with a goal in mind, such as the documentation of flora and fauna. Once the qualifying journey has been completed, groups must create a PowerPoint presenting their success in achieving their goal. Once this is signed off by the outside providers and the logs are completed and assessed by the Duke of Edinburgh examiners, a student may receive their silver award. This process should take at least 6 months to complete.

As this year comes to a close, students have met all the necessities and are simply catching up on their logs to ensure that they have met the 26-hour requirement. Being a part of the silver cohort myself has been an incredible experience. In order to successfully complete the silver award, one must have a drive and a will to participate that goes beyond extrinsic motivation. And I believe that all those who participated this year truly embody this quality. And have accepted the late Duke of Edinburgh’s challenge and encapsulated the standards first introduced through the creation of this award.