GCS Student Recognized as a Top Volunteer

Northern High’s Megan Maness

Maness named a 2015 Distinguished Finalist by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

"Greensboro, N.C. – Northern High’s Megan Maness is recognized as one of North Carolina’s top youth volunteers.

Maness was recently selected as a 2015 Distinguished Finalist by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program for organizing and implementing a health and nutrition workshop for a local preschool to encourage healthy eating habits. She is also researching healthy lunch recipes for a cookbook to help parents make healthy lunch and snack choices for their children.

“I have built a love of helping children, and I wanted to find a way to create a meaningful project while benefitting the young ones at my church,” says Megan. “I also hope that the parents of the preschool children will benefit from the book by having ideas on hand when they need to make a meal or snack quickly for their children.”

In addition to her work with the preschool, Megan was also recognized for her involvement in the Fun Buddies Club, a club created to provide opportunities for students with disabilities and their neuro-typical peers to come together in an informal setting.

“I have consistently been impressed by her tenacity in gaining the support of other teachers and efficiency when gathering resources for each event the club hosts,” says Holly Burdick, autism inclusion teacher at Northern High. “She is ever so gentle with these students, and is unselfconscious in her interactions with them and all participants.  She has enlisted the support of her neuro-typical peers who attend each meeting in numbers.  I am greatly impressed by the whole bunch!”

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. It honors middle and high school students for outstanding service to others at the local, state and national level.

Since 2011, GCS students have served more than one million volunteer hours in the local community, providing an economic impact of about $21 million."

- A Press Release