Polk County Public Schools
Four Lakeland High students are among 103 in Florida to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award. The award is issued by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation on behalf of the President of the United States. The four Lakeland High students were recognized for this honor at the Florida Learn & Serve Conference held in Orlando. Event officials presented them with letters of appreciation from President Obama.
Honored were Heather Mallard, Alyssa Martinez, Andrew Richardson and Alexandria Salmon. The 103 students honored were from five Florida schools including Lakeland High. Other schools with students receiving the award were from DeFuniak Springs, Kissimmee, Miami and Orlando.
Mallard, Martinez, Richardson and Salmon are students of Lakeland High teacher Jennifer Goleno who leads Lakeland High’s Learn and Serve curriculum. Learn and Service combines an academic component with community service and leadership.
The following are summaries of the community service work of Lakeland High’s four President’s Volunteer Service Award winners.
Heather Mallard, senior, Lakeland High
Heather is part of the Teen Trendsetters organization and mentors a second grader in reading at Dixieland Elementary in Lakeland. She is also involved with a club called uthMpact Coalition informing young people about the dangers of substance abuse. She has volunteered at the Interact Alliance’s Red Ribbon Run, part of an anti-substance abuse campaign. Heather also volunteers in a first grade class at Lakeland’s Southwest Elementary and she went on a summer mission trip to New Orleans to build a home with Habitat For Humanity.
Alyssa Martinez, sophomore, Lakeland High
Alyssa is a member of Lakeland High’s Keyette Service Club and has volunteered with the Red Ribbon Run, Adopt a Family and a community Halloween event for kids. She has also volunteered at Lakeland’s Highlands Grove Elementary and been active as an altar server and in youth choir at church. She has also volunteered for teachers at Lakeland High and Fort Meade Middle-Senior and attended a volunteer work camp in South Carolina repairing the homes of the elderly. She has also taught as a preschool teacher at vacation bible school.
Andrew Richardson, senior, Lakeland High
Andrew was the creator and director of the “HOPE – Rock With A Purpose” benefit concert. He also teaches music to children and is part of the Anchor Amigos mentoring program. He has also been involved in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. He recently passed the 500-hour milestone for community service hours.
Alexandria Salmon, senior, Lakeland High
Alexandria has volunteered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a veterinary office and with the elementary education and Safe Schools departments of the school district. She has also volunteered at the “Baby and Me” program at Lakeland Regional Medical Center and at the Polk County Animal Rescue Shelter.
