Washington's Top Youth Volunteers Of 2020 Selected By National Program

OLYMPIA, Wash., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Adithi Raghavan, 17, of Sammamish and Sanika Datar, 12, of Kirkland today were named Washington'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, Adithi and Sanika 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 25^th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Washington's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Adithi Raghavan
Nominated by International Community School

Adithi, a senior at International Community School, educates young people about the environmental and economic impact of declining honeybee populations around the world, and encourages them to plant pollinator gardens to help reverse the decline. While volunteering for a local wildlife habitat group, Adithi learned about Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon in which bee colonies suddenly disappear after the mass exodus of worker bees. "If bees continue to disappear, people employed by the agricultural sector will experience huge business losses and consumers will face increasing food prices and limited options," said Adithi. "Thus it is imperative that we rally young volunteers to plant pollinator gardens."

After three years of training to become a beekeeper and planting pollinator gardens, Adithi organized a small group of students at her school to launch a "BEEducated" initiative. First, they developed a free interactive app that provides general information about bees through a quiz, a map highlighting bee-friendly locations and a Jeopardy-style game. So far, it's been downloaded thousands of times and is used in hundreds of classrooms across the country, said Adithi. Her group then developed a curriculum outlining the steps necessary to plant pollinator gardens at schools. Realizing that not all schools could afford gardening materials, Adithi's team raised more than $21,000 to provide students with gardening kits. Adithi and her colleagues also have lobbied legislators to fund bee research, and have recruited students in California and New England to start their own "BEEducated" chapters.

Middle Level State Honoree: Sanika Datar
Nominated by Northlake Academy

Sanika, a seventh-grader at Environmental & Adventure School, celebrated Earth Day last year by conducting activities in her backyard to acquaint neighborhood preschoolers with things they can do to help take care of the planet's natural environment. She also helped plant trees and rid trails of poison ivy in her area. "Community stewardship projects in my school have instilled a passion in me to do more environmental work and to be an advocate to make our community better," said Sanika. So last Earth Day, she decided to host a group of her younger sister's friends and lead them through some fun, yet educational, activities.

Her first activity for the children was to make eco-friendly sidewalk paint by using cornstarch and water. After the kids painted the sidewalk, she took them on a scavenger hunt in a nearby park to find recyclable items, and then explained to the children how to properly recycle them. After she read the group a book about taking care of the Earth, she gave them a hands-on project to recycle different categories of items. Sanika had so much fun that she sought other environmental volunteer opportunities. She helped plant trees, volunteered to build signs providing information about native plants, and helped clean up poison ivy growing around a popular hiking trail. "We need to live by the message: 'Leave this world a little better than you found it,'" said Sanika.         

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized six other Washington students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Washington's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Lori Christian, 16, of Chehalis, Washington, a junior at William F. West High School, founded "Teens for Abused Children (TFAC)," an organization that partners with hospitals and Child Protective Services to help children who have experienced abuse; she helps raise awareness, runs clothing, toy and diaper drives, and helps create care packages for children in the foster system. TFAC is also lobbying to help pass The New Hope Law to cap the number of cases CPS caseworkers can handle at a time.

Ashley Lin, 16, of Vancouver, Washington, a junior at Union High School, founded and runs "Project Exchange," which has given cross-cultural learning experiences to 250 middle and high school students from more than 20 countries through digital programs and virtual field trips; her efforts include recruiting participants, securing funding and designing the program curriculum. Ashley was inspired to help foster international student connections after serving as a U.S. youth ambassador to Uruguay.

Mahathi Mangipudi, 16, of Bellevue, Washington, a junior at Interlake High School, has volunteered hundreds of hours of her time as an environmental advocate in her community; she developed and shares a student-led climate action plan, partnered with local teachers to develop curricula that promote sustainability, and has testified before her city council to encourage environmental action. Mahathi has also conducted habitat restorations and monitored streams as an intern at an environmental education center.

Sloane Miller, 17, of Bothell, Washington, a member of YMCA of Greater Seattle and a senior at Holy Names Academy, founded "Kid Tech Express," through which she teaches computer skills and coding to students in underserved communities; her efforts include recruiting volunteers, securing technology donations from businesses and running informational booths at community events. Sloane also contributed money earned from babysitting to buy T-shirts, signage and prizes for participants.

Arpit Ranasaria, 17, of Redmond, Washington, a senior at Redmond High School, helped expand the STEM-related initiatives at "Science Infinity," where he also volunteers his time teaching science to middle school students; the organization has donated more than $30,000 to local and international educational programs and established a college scholarship. Arpit, who originally started as a student of Science Infinity, was inspired to start his project to bring more STEM-related opportunities to underserved populations.

Sahana Sasikumar, 16, of Bellevue, Washington, a junior at Interlake High School, launched two initiatives to provide STEM opportunities to girls: "Legion of Bot," a program she co-founded that builds and showcases interactive robots, and "STEMACA," a nonprofit she started that's provided computer programming education resources to numerous schools and libraries around the U.S. and in three other countries. Sahana started this activity after noticing she was one of very few girls participating in robotics and tech-related competitions.

"In our 25^th 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."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth. 

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees – one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia – will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural

History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.  

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. Learn more at www.nassp.org

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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