VOLUNTEERS TO BE HONORED

The search has begun for the nation's top youth who best exemplify community service by volunteering to make their communities better places to live by the second annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

Over the next two months, middle-level and high schools throughout the United States will have an opportunity to select their most community-minded students and nominate them for statewide and national recognition.

The awards are sponsored by The Prudential Insurance Company of America in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. The program provides recognition to deserving students in local schools, identifies the two best examples of community service by youth -- one middle-level and one high school student -- in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and culminates in the naming of America's top 10 youth volunteers of the year next May.

Students interested in being considered for the awards should contact their school principal for an applicaiton form. Applicants must be currently enrolled in grades 5-12 and must describe a self-initiated community service activity which has occurred at least in part since September 1995.

NASSP has distributed program applications and information to every public and private middle-level and high school in the nation.