313 high school students representing 55 towns will receive the Cook County Sheriff’s Youth Service Medal of Honor tonight as recognition for volunteering more than 100 hours to their community and others in the last year, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said today.
The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. tonight at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. The event will take place in Building M just off the 111th St. entrance to the campus.
In addition to the minimum of 100 service hours, applicants were required to submit essays about their experiences. Examples of service from this year’s winners include mentoring students, providing cancer support services, cleaning their city, assisting in food pantries and volunteering at their local church. The cumulative community service time among the 313 winners surpassed 45,000 hours.
This year’s distinguished youth speaker is Megan Horras. Prior to the 2014-2015 academic year, Megan was part of a summer school program in which she taught special education students. Some of the students were nonverbal, yet Megan overcame the communication barrier by teaching herself American Sign Language in order to better serve the students. Megan Horras is a resident of Orland Park and attends Carl Sandburg High School.
2015 Youth Service Medal of Honor Winners
Alsip
Arlington Heights
Barrington Hills
Barrington
Berwyn
Bridgeview
Broadview
Brookfield
Chicago Heights
Chicago
Countryside
Des Plaines
Elmwood Park
Evanston
Hazel Crest
Hickory Hills
Hillside
Hoffman Estates
Indian Head Park
Justice
LaGrange
LaGrange Park
Lemont
Lyons
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Markham
Midlothian
Mount Prospect
Niles
North Riverside
Oak Forest
Oak Lawn
Oak Park
Orland Hills
Orland Park
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Palatine
Palos Heights
Palos Hills
Palos Park
Park Ridge
Posen
Richton Park
River Forest
Riverside
Robbins
Schaumburg
Skokie
South Barrington
Stickney
Streamwood
Summit
Tinley Park
Westchester
Western Springs
Willow Springs
Wilmette
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