More than 200 high school students received the Cook County Sheriff’s Youth Service Medal of Honor Monday evening as recognition for volunteering more than 100 hours to their community and others in the past year, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced yesterday.
The ceremony, which is now in its 24th year, took place Monday at 7pm at the UIC Forum, Main Hall A & B with J, Julian and Showbiz Shelly of the B96 Morning Show serving as Master of Ceremonies.
The program, which was established to recognize Cook County students who have volunteered 100 or more hours in a year, will consist tonight of students who have totaled more than 36,000 hours of community service to a variety of agencies and organizations throughout Cook County.
This year’s youth speaker was Aaron Gudowski, a freshman at Carl Sandburg High School, who completed over 200 hours of community service in the Orland Township Community.
Students were recognized from Arlington Heights, Barrington, Bellwood, Berwyn, Bridgeview, Brookfield, Burbank, Burr Ridge, Calumet City, Chicago, Cicero, Country Club Hills, Countryside, Crestwood, Des Plaines, Dolton, Elk Grove, Evanston, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Hoffman Estates, Hometown, Homewood, Indian Head Park, Inverness, Justice, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, Lemont, Lyons, Markham, Maywood, Midlothian, Mount Prospect, Niles, Norridge, Northlake, North Riverside, Northbrook, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Oak Park, Olympia Fields, Orland Hills, Orland Park, Palatine, Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Skokie, South Barrington, Summit, Tinley Park, Westchester, Western Springs, and Worth.
Kate Stucke from City Year, which is an organization whose focus is on fighting the national dropout crisis among high school students and refocusing students on talent, energy and serving others to help them graduate, will speak to the youth about the importance of continuing in their efforts and the significance of volunteer work throughout their lives.
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