Volunteers are the heart and soul of School on Wheels. In 2012, 1,587 volunteers dedicated more than 80,000 hours helping over 2,000 of our homeless students.
April is National Volunteer Month and every year School on Wheels nominates volunteers to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award. This year 55 of our volunteer tutors are receiving the prestigious award for volunteering more than 100 hours in a year. Stella Chesler is receiving the Gold Medal for over 500 hours of volunteer service and five volunteers – Zeta Dhanapanth, Hanna Duff, Michael Kelley, Julia Schade, and Gloria Van Santen – are receiving the Silver Medal for over 200 hours of service. All our wonderful recipients and their tutoring locations are listed below.
Here are our amazing Presidential Award Winners for 2013:
(Photos of our 2013 tutors will be added at the end of the month)
Los Angeles
Christopher Koontz, Stella Chesler
Skid Row Learning Center
Bryan Castro, Jinny Story, Julia Schade, Marisol Farfan, Michael Kelley, Milvia Ramires, Monaca Brown, Vincent Montoya
South Los Angeles and South Los Angeles Learning Center
Connie Hsu, Hanna Duff , Jean Wetstein, Khelsy Raymond, Samantha Hattick, Thuy Nguyen
Santa Monica and surrounding area
Aimee Mckenzie, Jane Hirsch, Kimberly Pemberton, Lucia Graham
Long Beach
Fionna Davis, Lauren Dejoras, Michel LeBrun
Hollywood and Mid City
Arturo Jimenez, Blake Peyrot, Dick Bennett, Marcel Hovespian, Matt Avallone, Megan Herting, Mel Freitas, Nancy Newhouse-Porter¸ Patty Jausoro, Ron Crosthwaite, Ryan DeRosa
San Fernando Valley
Anne Klyng, Cynthia Stern, Donna Preston, Donna Susskind, Erin Matthews, Margaret MacCurdy, Michael Geisser, Noelle Fuoco
Ventura County
Angela Lindahl, Betty Burdick, Catherine Meek, Damon Wing, Dennis Early, Gloria Van Santen, Kathy Neufeld, Mercy Maldonado, Samantha Harrison, Susannah Chilton
Orange County
Christine Gracia, Nathan Sarmiento, Zeta Dhanapanth
Presidential Award Winners 2012:
Los Angeles
Jo Crabtree, Lynne Berman, Megan Whitaker, Michael Kelley (GOLD), Milvia Ramires, Nicki Aycox, Osvaldo Alfaro,Vincent Montoya, Yesenia Rodriguez
South Los Angeles
Alexis Wirth, Amy Johnson, Eileen McAndrews (SILVER), Jane Correia, Jean Wetstein, Laura Bundalian, Magaly Granados, Nina Stone, Ryan DeRosa
Santa Monica and surrounding area
Carrie Soppe, Freny Berkenbile, Lucia Graham, Patricia Cummings, Paul Dynes, Rachel Alevy, Stacey Hunter, Tasha Sivarajah, Thuy Nguyen
Long Beach
Alex Hattick, Angie Frost, Damon Ricks, Selena Edelen, Suzanne Grudnitski
Hollywood and Mid City
Blake Peyrot, David Kojimoto, Jerry Buchanan (GOLD), Lance Adler, Matt Avallone , Nancy Newhouse Porter, Roberta Lara, Sona Sood, Victoria Pittson
San Fernando Valley
Donna Preston (SILVER), Heather Odell, Jim Hassan, Mark Duttweiler, Sarah Goff, Scott Preston, Yolando Mitchell Brown
Ventura County
Betty Burdick, Catherine Meek, Celeste Matthews, David Kautter, Dennis Early, JoAnn McCrea, Sinead Chilton, Gloria Van Santen, Jacinta Sveiven, Jane Sievers, Julie Giroux
About the Award
The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families, and groups that have achieved a certain standard – measured by the number of hours of service over a 12-month period or cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime.
Award recipients receive:
- An official President’s Volunteer Service Award lapel pin
- A personalized certificate of achievement
- A congratulatory letter from the President of the United States
School on Wheels Staff also nominates volunteers every month to be ‘Volunteer Tutor of the Month’ You can read about our star tutors for this month here.
