Student honored for community service

Katie Matthew, a Lampasas High School senior, has been honored for her exemplary volunteer service with a state-level Certificate of Excellence from the 2008 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program.

Presented annually by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honor young people across the nation for outstanding community service activities.

Program applications were distributed in September through all public and private middle and high schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and volunteer centers.

After local honorees were named, state-level judges selected State Honorees, Distinguished Finalists and Certificate of Excellence recipients.

Volunteer activities were judged on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.

Katie earned her award by founding Project Heart Smart which raised money for the purchase of seven defibrillators for the Lampasas Independent School District.

The defibrillators were placed at various locations at the high school, middle school, Hanna Springs Intermediate and Kline Whitis Elementary, ensuring the lives of Lampasas youths for years to come.

Katie also has received a President's Volunteer Service Award from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, which recognizes Americans who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.

"The young people recognized as winners of Spirit of Community Awards demonstrate an enormous capacity for giving and reaching out to those in need," said Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals."

"NASSP is proud to honor these students as they are wonderful examples of the high caliber of young people in our nation's schools today."