Twenty-three IUSD students have earned The Congressional Award, the United States Congress’ highest honor bestowed upon a youth civilian. This year, IUSD stands out nationally with the highest number of awardees from any district in the United States.
The Congressional Award is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of young individuals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment in various areas. To earn this award, participants must complete a minimum of 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness and a five-day, four-night expedition or exploration over at least two years. Only 724 youth were awarded this award this year.
The following IUSD students met these rigorous requirements and were honored with the prestigious award:
- Emin Aslan, Irvine High School
- Steven Cheng, Northwood High School
- Hemkesh Chenupati, Portola High School
- Nagyung (Anna) Cho, Northwood High School
- Minjoon Choi, Irvine High School
- Aarushi Ghildyal, Woodbridge High School
- Xinyue (Cindy) Gong, Northwood High School
- Shriya Janolkar, Portola High School
- Heidi Jung, Irvine High School
- Daeyong Kim, Portola High School
- Jonathan Kim, Portola High School
- Eunchan Lee, Portola High School
- Jeongwoo Lee, Northwood High School
- Alex Lu, University High School
- Justin Oh, Northwood High School
- Jeremy Schabilion, Irvine High School
- Shiyan (Judy) Tao, Northwood High School
- Sashan Umashankar, Portola High School
- Sriram Vaidhyanathan, Irvine High School
- Terry Wang, Northwood High School
- Chelsea Won, Irvine High School
- Jaewon (Justin) Yi, Portola High School
- Zhongwen Zhang, Irvine High School
These medalists were invited to join the other award recipients to be honored at the annual three-day Gold Medal Summit. The awardees had the opportunity to meet with Members of Congress, attend panel discussions at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center Congressional Auditorium, hear from industry experts in STEM, finance and global sustainability, and visit the Washington Nationals field.
Congratulations to these students for their exemplary accomplishments!
For a full list of honorees, please visit The Congressional Award website.