U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today delivered remarks and announced recipients of the 2008 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. The awards, sponsored by Prudential Financial and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, were created in 1995 to honor middle and high school students at the local, state and national level for outstanding community service.

"Thank you for making a positive difference in your neighborhoods - and for inspiring others to do the same," Secretary Spellings told student honorees. "Our global economy - together with new technologies - offers great potential to advance opportunity and increase the quality of life for people everywhere. But we need your help to do it. I encourage you to continue making volunteer service an integral part of your lives. I know you'll accomplish great things - because you already have!"

The goal of the Spirit of Community Awards program is to applaud young people who are making a positive difference in their towns and neighborhoods, as well as, inspire others to think about how they might contribute to helping their communities. Over the past 13 years, more than 200,000 young Americans have participated in the program, and more than 80,000 of them have been officially recognized for their volunteer work.

Close to 20,000 students participated in the award program this year of those 102 middle and high school students from each state and the District of Columbia were named State Honorees. Each of these State Honorees receives a $1,000 awards, engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. From the 102 State Honorees, 10 were announced as National Honorees at today's event. These National Honorees receive an additional $5,000 award, engraved gold medallions, crystal trophies for the schools that nominated them and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for the charities of their choice.

For more information and a list of honorees, visit http://www.prudential.com/view/page/public/11828

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