Four Whitman students and one Pyle student received The Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Medal for outstanding service to their community Monday.
Senior Thomas Montgomery, freshmen Peter Montgomery, Matthew Proestel and Orion Gangopadhyay and Pyle eighth grader Dillan Gangopadhyay all received the award, which President George W. Bush created in 2002 to honor citizens for their service to the community.
Catherine Provost, a representative of congressman Chris Van Hollen, presented the students with the medals.
“To receive the Presidential Service Award, one has to log hundreds of hours of community service and has to have that service verified,” Provost said. “It displays an immense commitment to public service and volunteerism.”
In order to earn the award, students under 15 years old are required to contribute 100 hours of community service over the course of 12 months. -However, senior Thomas Montgomery fell into the next age group and was therefore required to contribute 250 hours in a 12-month period.
All five of the recipients are members of Boy Scout Troop 15, which hosted many of the volunteer events.
“It means a lot to be able to go out and do this much volunteer work, especially to the degree we were able to as a troop,” Senior Patrol Leader Thomas Montgomery said.
Since the beginning of this year, the troop has collectively contributed more than 650 hours of community service.
“It shows we care about the community,” said Peter Montgomery, who obtained the rank of Eagle Scout the same evening. “A lot of it’s from what we’ve done as Boy Scouts. You’re taught to give back to the community and improve areas that are lacking, that there’s always things that need to be improved on, and there always are people that need the help.”
The students are the first from Whitman to receive the award.
“Five individuals receiving the award at once—I think that is a great testament to the community, to Whitman, and to the types of students you see going to Whitman,” Provost said. “These Whitman students had 75 SSL hours to commit, and they went far and above. I’m sure many other Whitman students are doing the same.”
