From Transcript to Transformation

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“Hurry up, amigo!  Run for your life!  The patrol is coming, and we must make it over the border before they catch us.” Meredith and I sat engrossed as young Alejandro, animated and agitated, recounted the terrifying night that his family crossed the Mexican border into Texas.  Fascinated yet grieved, I could hardly imagine the life that this little boy and his family lived.  A constant search for food, shelter, and employment are daily details of Alejandro’s life that are so foreign to the life of comfort and security that my family takes for granted.  And yet, we both breathe the same Indianapolis air and have the same need for relationship with the Living God and with others.  How had I crossed this bridge into Alejandro’s  world?

A few years ago, I heard about an exciting opportunity for the high school transcript called the Congressional Award.  Little did I know how the pursuit of this monumental goal would change my heart toward illegal immigrants.  If you are like me, you usually begin a ministry thinking that you will help the people that you are ministering to, right?  In this case, nine little boys who emigrated from Mexico used their stories of bravery when crossing the Texas border to put a human face on the U. S. Federal policy on immigration, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to serve these 9-11 year old boys and their families.  But how did my desire for an impressive homeschool transcript translate into a life-changing encounter with suffering and courage as manifested in nine little Hispanic boys?

Initiative, Achievement, and Service

Established by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, the Congressional Award recognizes initiative, achievement, and service in American youth ages 14 to 23 years.  The award is non-competitive; however, don’t let that phrase lull you into thinking that this is an easy award to achieve!  Depending on how far your teen wants to go, this award can be extremely difficult to win, especially in the area of voluntary community service.  There is no requirement for a minimum grade point average, and the terms of the award accommodate youth with special needs or disabilities.

There are six levels of achievement:  three certificates and three medals (bronze, silver, and gold).  Each level has a minimum hour requirement that must be met before you can submit your documentation for approval.  The hour requirement ranges from 60 minimum hours and one day trip for the bronze certificate to 800 hours and a four consecutive day trip for the gold medal.  If you are going for the gold, it is best to start early because it takes a significant amount of time to accumulate that many purposeful hours!  The hours are cumulative, so approved hours at easier levels count toward the harder levels of achievement.

Each teen who participates will need to find an adult to serve as the advisor for the award, and this advisor cannot be the parent.  The advisor should be a visionary who can look at the teen’s proposal with a long view of how the objectives meet the criteria of Congress as well as how the objectives meet the needs of the student.  Additionally, each particular achievement requires another adult to validate the activity.  For example, your teen might ask his pastor to be his advisor who will sign off on the entire submission for the gold medal, but within the submission, your teen will have multiple validators who sign off on the unique projects that went into the comprehensive effort.

A member of Congress personally presents the medals in a public ceremony that is attended by the press.  At the bronze level, your U. S. Representative from the House might present your medal in your home town, while your U. S. Senator might present the gold medal on Capitol Hill during the week-long program for gold medal winners in Washington, D. C. which is held each June.   A full week of organized activities, including meetings with influential national leaders and tours of national landmarks, caps off a fulfilling journey of achievement, initiative, and community service.

The Congressional Award challenges young Americans to stretch themselves in four areas:  (1) volunteer public service, (2) personal development, (3) physical fitness, and (4) an exploration or expedition.

Volunteer Public Service

Community service is probably something that your family is already doing; however, I would encourage you to take a look at your teen’s unique interests and abilities and find something meaningful that she can directly contribute to the community.  Four hundred hours are required at the gold medal level.  I once heard someone say that the best place to serve is at the “intersection of your greatest passion and the world’s greatest need.”  In Meredith’s case, proficiency at public speaking is a strength that she has developed through competitive speech and debate.  She also adores children, so we began searching for a need in the community where she could use her public speaking skills to help others.

Initially, we created an after-school program for underprivileged, inner-city African American kids involving messy, gooey, hands-on science labs.  We teamed up with another young man in the home schooling community who was also working on the Congressional Award, and he and Meredith alternated teaching the labs.  But, science is not Meredith’s passion, so we then discovered another inner city opportunity which involved the Hispanic kids, and it was there that we heard Alejandro’s thrilling story.  Meredith teaches a beginning public speaking class to these little guys, and she is demonstrating simple skills like how to make meaningful eye contact when giving a speech and how to introduce yourself when shaking hands.  She has taught them how to give an impromptu speech as well as how to organize their thoughts with a clear intro, body, and conclusion.  Their favorite time with Meredith, though, is when she lets them pretend to be a poor audience, and they giggle uncontrollably whenever she lets them break the rules of proper speaking.  Standing up there in front of their snickering, wiggly peers has taught them how not to act!

Over time, though, her initial goal of achieving the Congressional Award began to fade as she began to love Alejandro, Cristobel, and Brian more fully.  In addition to her regular speech class, she collected Christmas gifts and funds for food baskets over the holiday.  She might serve there as a camp counselor this summer, too.  One caveat – even though you consider your public service ministry, you cannot classify it as religious.  Meredith had one project bumped back from the Congressional office for “proselytizing” since she mentioned the name of Jesus in her Record Book!

Personal Development

This category is by far the easiest goal to reach since most of us have lots of interest in improving ourselves!  In Meredith’s case, she learned basic sewing skills so that she is now able to create more complex period costumes like her Pride and Prejudice gowns.  I know of others who have learned the art of photography, movie production, blacksmithing, a foreign language, and scrapbooking.  Each goal should be concrete with specific measurable milestones.  To receive the Congressional Gold Award, 200 hours of personal development are required.

Physical Fitness

Again, 200 hours of physical activity are required at the gold medal level, and the goals must be measurable and not easily attained.  Whether your teen decides he wants to earn his martial arts black belt or compete in the Junior Olympics in archery, there are tons of opportunities for improving physical fitness.  Meredith joined a local fitness club and took a strength-training class to reach her bronze medal goal, and now she is training for the “Muddy Buddy” which is a regional bike competition where teams of two traverse a 7 mile off-road course and 5 obstacles.

Exploration or Expedition

For the gold medal, four consecutive days of cross-cultural exploration or an outdoor expedition are required.  Expeditions are typically outdoor excursions like camping, hiking, and other wilderness activities which force the teen to live without the comforts of home.  The teen on an expedition learns how to survive with a campfire and basic backpacking items.  Ideas include white-water rafting, hiking the Appalachian Trail, or backpacking in the Grand Canyon.  Explorations introduce the teen to a new cultural experience like a city kid living on a working farm in the country for a week or living with an Hispanic family in your city or even in a foreign country.  Both exploration and expedition involve extensive planning and preparation on the part of the teen; preplanned trips like sports camps or competitions are not allowed.  Congressional staff looks for evidence of self-reliance as well as ways that you took initiative when approving your project.

Easy Application

So what started out for our family as a quality addition to the transcript morphed into a valuable, cross-cultural learning experience as well as an appreciation for other people and the enormous amount of hours it requires to be a servant leader.  I highly recommend the process even if you never achieve the gold medal.  All you have to do is send your $10 application fee to:

The Congressional Award
PO Box 77440
Washington, D. C.  20013

In a few weeks, you’ll receive your Record Book, and you can begin the process of setting goals.  You can read more about the Congressional Award at http://www.congressionalaward.org.  Who knows?  You may think you are starting this process for the high school transcript, but you may find out later on down the road that you have been transformed by a little kid like Alejandro as you cross into his world.  Best wishes, amigo!

Diane Lockman is a CPA turned classical Christian educating mom to her two teenage children. In her compelling new book, Trivium Mastery: The Intersection of Three Roads, Diane redefines classical home schooling. Additionally, her website, The Classical Scholar, provides a wealth of ideas for transitioning to an authentic classical education from birth to high school. When she’s not writing, managing the kids’ education, or teaching live classes, Diane enjoys sewing period costumes like her recent My Fair Lady and Lord of the Rings designs.

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