The 2013 Jefferson Awards National Ceremonies were held in Washington, D.C. National awards were presented over the course of three events with the first hosted by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend at the Grand Ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the second hosted by NFL-All Star Troy Vincent, and the third hosted by Chris Wallace of Fox News at the Arena Stage.
This year’s national honorees include: U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (Republican of Oklahoma) and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat of Vermont) who each received the award for greatest public service by an elected or appointed official. Holocaust survivor Professor Elie Wiesel; Washington Kastles founder Mark Ein; and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association Dolores Heurta were among the other recipients.
Student leaders from Thornton Township High Schools District 205 of South Holland, Illinois were honored as the National Gold Medallion Recipient for Outstanding Service by a High School. These student leaders placed first in the nation among 325 participating Students in Action schools across the country. The Jefferson Awards has trained more than 8,800 student leaders. Participating schools report 6.8 million hours of service, valued by the Independent Sector at $150 million. Last year, District 205 finished second overall. We are proud that Chicago area schools received the Gold Medallion in two of the past three years.
This year, we were pleased to welcome some new JA board members including NFL All Star Troy Vincent and Giselle Fernandez whose career has included CBS Early Show, CBS Evening News, NBC Today, NBC Nightly News, and Access Hollywood.
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