The Congressional Award Silver Medal is America’s congressional award for young Americans and it has been awarded to Shore Regional students Maddie Somer and Claire Aikins.  The program is non-partisan, voluntary and non-competitive, and the program is open to young Americans ages 14-23.

There are 6 levels of the award: bronze, silver and gold certificates along with bronze, silver and gold medals. Each level is cumulative, as the time spent on one award is carried with you to the next level. The award offers young people the opportunity to set a personal goal and achieve it.

The goal of the program is to learn more about yourself and different qualities, such as trust and responsibility. You must accomplish your goal by your 24th birthday.

Sophomore Maddie Somers and Junior Claire Akins are being appointed to Congressman Pallone’s Youth Advisory Council. “The program areas are Personal Development, Volunteer Public Service, Physical Fitness and Exploration,” said Maddie. “I donated over 200 hours volunteering with Soles4Souls and met with administrators at the national headquarters. For personal development, I wanted to gain knowledge and experience in child development. I became certified in infant and child CPR and worked as a camp counselor. For fitness, I completed hundreds of hours training to improve my soccer foot skills, and for exploration, I visited the city of Nashville, Tennessee and explored its history and music.”  M

For Claire, she received the award for a different reason. “I applied for the program,” Claire explained. “I had to write an essay about some problems I saw in the 6th Congressional District, which is Monmouth and Middlesex counties, and I came up with a couple of solutions to solve those issues.” Her essay stood out among all of the rest, earning her the Congressional Award.