Volunteer Award
Congratulations to Our 2024 Recipients!
Gold
Addison Munson, Alana Brock, Bailey Nettleton, Brianna Dodds, Carter Barta, Elisabeth Horst, Fainet Biniam, Hannah McDunnah, Himanjali Tavva, Mia Libadisos, Shahreen Toor, Nandani Kumar, Riya Verma, Sam Lindell, Shaunak Abraham, Shawna Sanjay, Tiffany Kim, Vale Behunin, Yeonah Choi, Shaymas Calvin
Silver
Caitlin Quinn, Bryan Yang, Kaycee Kaithula, Lucas Chabaud, Ruth Vinu, Tamar Rasmussen, Tess Thomson
Bronze
Alan Yang, Alexa La Forge, Alyssa White, Ashritha Raj, Audrey Menghini, Ellie Carlson, Gracen Hertzke, Kate Larsen, Leila Pineda, Lilly Balzarini, Olivia Bosshart, Ronit Chepuri, Sarah Organ, Sean Uy, Sumaiyya Zunairah
President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA)
Tahoma High School students are eligible to earn the President's Volunteer Service Award by completing 50-200+ hours of community service in a 12-month period.
The goal of this program is to encourage THS students to meet the needs in our community and others through dedicating their time to serving the needs of others, or a worthy cause, and to recognize students for outstanding effort in community service.
Volunteering is the practice of working on behalf of others, or a particular cause, without payment or compensation for time and services. Volunteering is generally considered altruistic, intended to promote good or improve quality of life. It fills a need that others have in the community. While singing in a choir, practicing an instrument, participating in sports or activities are worthwhile activities, their primary focus is skill development rather than being altruistic in nature.
Students who earn a PVSA during any year in high school automatically meet the 10 hour requirement for STEP during senior year, even if the service is completed before senior year.
Students can only earn one award each year.
According to the PVSA guidelines, a person must be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident (such as a green card holder) to earn the award. Students who do not meet this criteria may earn a Tahoma Volunteer Award.
How do I earn the award?
Students may volunteer at an organization such as The Maple Valley Food Bank, Vine Maple Place, Serenity Equine Rescue, Special Olympics, or the Washington Trails Association. They may also participate in events or fundraisers for non-profit organizations that benefit others, such as working at a PTA event, a fundraiser for Backpack Buddies, or Make a Difference Day. In addition, students can also identify a need in the community and develop their own project for addressing that need.
Students earn the award based on volunteer hours completed in a 12-month period. The student can determine the start and stop of the 12-month period. For example, one student might complete 100 hours between April 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025 to earn an award in May of 2025. Another student might complete 100 hours in June, July, and August of 2024 and earn their award in May of 2025 as well. Students may earn only one award per year.
There are three levels of awards (bronze, silver, and gold) based on the number of hours completed. Hours may come from different service activities for different organizations/causes. Hours differ based on age. Age category is determined by the age a volunteer is for at least 7 months out of a designated 12-month award period.
Hours for ages 11-15
Bronze - 50 - 74
Silver - 75 - 99
Gold - 100+
Hours for ages 16-25
Bronze - 100 - 174
Silver - 175 - 249
Gold - 250+
How do I show I completed the hours? Applications due May 1
Track your hours using the Community Service Log. When you click on this link, you will make a copy of the log where you can track all of your hours.
Students should join the Volunteer Tahoma Google Classroom to access documents and submit applications. The link to join the class will be available in the fall of 2024
Provide verification: If the organization you volunteer for has a verification form, hours log, or similar document, you may simply use that. If they don't, you may use this Community Service Verification Form. You will submit one form of verification for each organization. If you do an independent project, an adult who witnessed your work can fill out the form.
Fill out the application (both Part 1 and Part 2), available in Google Classroom. You will need:
Community Service Log(s) or something similar
Verification form(s)
A brief statement about your service to be used during the awards ceremony
A picture of you for the awards ceremony. Ideally, this would be a picture of you engaged in volunteer work, at a place you volunteered, with people you helped or worked with, etc.
What counts and what doesn't count?
The table below should give you a good idea of what kind of service counts, and what does not count. If you have a question about your service, talk to Ms. Lindersmith in the Future Ready Center, or email her at llinders@tahomasd.us.
Service that does not count: court-ordered community service, volunteer hours completed for a PVSA from another awarding institution, any service for which a person received compensation (such as pay, goods, or extra credit).
Questions?
See Ms. Lindersmith in the Future Ready Center, or email llinders@tahomasd.us
2023 Recipients
Gold - Phoenix Cheshier, Elizabeth Horst, Nandani Kumar, Shawna Sanjay
Silver - Daisy Linder, Braeden McCurdy, Hannah McDunnah, Himanjali Tavva, Kanan Young
Bronze - Lucas Chabaud, Chayten Ghag, Norah Jose, Anna Neal, Tamar Rasmussen, Katrina Wilson, Sumiyya Zunairah
2022 Recipients
Gold - Tanveer Grewal, Peyton Ruud-Palady, Shawna Sanjay, Sanjana Sanjay, Himanjali Tavva, and Nandini Yogi
Silver - Lily Oliphant and Daniel Park
Bronze - Dyotana Bhattacharyya, Sarah Burkhead, Monse Castaneda, and Jaidev Raval
2021 Recipients
Gold - Tanveer Grewal
Silver - Aileen Park
Bronze - Katie Lumsden, Daniel Park