Upper School Students Earn Congressional Awards

The Congressional Award program is non-partisan and non-competitive, and is designed to recognize youth in the U.S. for outstanding dedication in four areas; Voluntary Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness and Expedition & Exploration. The Congressional Gold award is the highest honor awarded by Congress to high school students.

Ahmed, Fink and Salazar earned their public service hours helping the local community. They volunteered with nonprofits such as Harvesters and Happy Bottoms, helped with gardening and event logistics at the Overland Park Arboretum and assisted staff and patients at several area medical facilities including Truman Medical Center, Ascend Hospice and Advent Health - Shawnee Mission. They focused on personal development by working on their own improvement in areas such as robotics and musical technique. As tennis players, Ahmed and Salazar completed their physical fitness requirement working on their technique and gameplay. Ahmed saw proof of his improvement as his UTR (universal tennis rating) rose significantly.

The expedition portion requires students to spend three days exploring a new place and culture. This task takes curiosity, introspection and open-mindedness as students examine a new part of the world and consider how they fit in. These students examined culture and diversity with their families as they traveled and immersed themselves in new places, including the United Arab Emirates and Ecuador. 

Students say that the opportunity to learn about themselves and the world around them is a valuable result of this process. Fink describes the experience as one that “expanded my understanding of my community and helped me connect with people I never would have encountered.”

All Congressional Gold award recipients will be recognized at the Gold Medal Summit in the summer of 2025, at which time they will receive their physical medals.