20 Agoura High Students Honored for Volunteer Efforts

Twenty Agoura High School students were honored this week, not for their athletic prowess or their academic skills, but for the time and effort they have given this year to helping others.

The honored students--freshmen and seniors--amassed from 40 to 300 hours of community volunteer time, a feat that school and city officials wanted to acknowledge.

“We think volunteering is an important part of really producing students who are going . . . to be the best contributing citizens they can,” Agoura Principal Jim Christianson said. “Most of the time, when students experience giving like this, they will continue it throughout their lives.”

The students honored were Katherine Arkin, Megan Bouttier, Michael Brooks, Amanda Feuerman, Shawbong Fok, Lindsay Freedman, Meghan Hannifin, Lindsey Havel, Samantha Heller, Joanna Hewitson, Janette Lee, Ruth Levy, Elissa Marlo Love, Tracey Oh, Josh Pollack, Sheila Rajagopal, Alison Scheer, Kelly Smith, Rachel Wolfe and Christina Woo.

Christianson said the awards grew out of a decree by the Las Virgenes Unified School District Board of Education that schools encourage volunteerism in their students, from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

With the help of Agoura City Councilman Dan Kuperberg, the awards program is Agoura’s answer to the school board’s order.

To be eligible for the award, students must serve a minimum of 25 hours at an organization--a hospital, religious group, retirement home or neighborhood park. The only criteria, Christianson said, is they must do the work without pay or school credit.

This first year’s awards drew far fewer students than expected because of a tight deadline in applying and a short time span to collect the minimum hours. But organizers say they expect an substantial increase in the number of students who meet the requirements next year, when they will have from September to the early part of the year to apply.