Supt. Luna, Congressional Leaders Celebrate Idaho's Exceptional Congressional Award Recipients

Superintendent Luna joined the Governor and members of Idaho's congressional delegation this morning in congratulating Idaho's Congressional Award Medal recipients. 68 young Idahoans were awarded Bronze, Silver, or Gold Congressional Award Medals in the ceremony, which was hosted by KTVB Boise's Doug Petcash. A moment of silence was observed in honor of the late Kathryn Benoit, who was among the Idaho youths who had earned the prestigious gold medal. Congressmen remarked on the dedication of these young people and the impact they had on their communities.

The Congressional Award Medal was created in 1979 to be given to young people ages 14 through 23 who accomplish goals in Volunteer Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness, and Expedition/Exploration.

The Congressional Award is a voluntary, non-competitive program open to young Americans of any gender, race, academic or athletic ability, or socioeconomic background. It is an incentive and recognition from the United States Congress for any young person who wishes to excel, accepts the challenge of setting personal goals, and masters those goals through discipline and hard work.

Listed below are Idaho's recipients:

BRONZE MEDALISTS

Jennifer Benton

Julia Broderick

Kelsey Bunce

Wyatt Bunce

Hannah Cross

Madison Dahlquist

Shannon Davidson
Sean Edington
Claire Goss
Courtney Haight
Joel Parker Heisey
Jaclyn Hunt
Frank Jameson
Rex Kelly
Matthew Liscinsky
Josie Lyman
Caleb Mattox
Austin Nalen
Rebecca Page
Sydney Sales
Jason Schenk
Jericho Schroeder

SILVER MEDALISTS

April Adamson
Vincent Adamson
Blake Alfson
Hayden Amaro
Tim Atwell
Joshua Benton
Cory Buckley
Nicolas Buckley
Austin Day
Silas Domy
Jonathan Etters
Esther Frederick
Michaela Gerard
Maggie Heidenreich
Olivia Heisey
Rachel Hooper
Brock Hulsey
Nellie Makings
Chase McKelvey
A. Prescott Pettiette
Steven Price
Joshua Renn
Amber Rubens
Bailey Seamens-Anderson
Thane Sweard
Lacey Teske
Lance Teske
Jessica Tweedie

GOLD MEDALISTS

Dakota Barnes
Kathryn Benoit
Steven Boomhower
Abigail Burk
Zana Davey
Nathaniel Goss
Elizabeth Harris
Jocelyn Hepton
Danielle Hooper
Maleah Huggins
John Langdon
John Langfield
Breanna Lee
Stacie Monaghan
Jeremiah Patchin
Kylee Richmond
Rachel Spencer
Ashley Stucki

Superintendent Luna Joins Senator Crapo to Support Legislation Preventing Teen Dating Violence

Today, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna joined Idaho Senator Mike Crapo in supporting federal legislation to boost education and awareness about teen dating violence in Idaho schools.

Teen dating violence is an issue in Idaho today.  In 2009, 11 percent of Idaho high school students reported being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend. That’s nearly 31,000 students across our state.

“This does not just affect these students. Violence affects all our students,” Superintendent Luna said. “Abusive behavior occurring on school campuses has a lasting impact on the overall school climate.  It interferes with students’ abilities to focus on learning. We have to make sure every student is free from intimidation and fear.”

Superintendent Luna and staff at the Idaho State Department of Education have been making progress in preventing teen dating violence over the past four years by collaborating with the Center for Healthy Teen Relationships and Start Strong Idaho to promote healthy teen relationships and reduce teen dating violence.

The Coordinated School Health Program in the State Department of Education works directly with schools to establish school health councils focused on a variety of health issues including violence to improve school climate and academic success. 

Senator Crapo has been a leader in preventing teen dating violence at the national level for many years.  Now, he is a co-sponsor of the SAFE Teen Act, which will help Idaho build on Idaho’s successes and further prevent teen dating violence. Specifically, this legislation will:

• Authorize schools to use existing grant funding for teen dating violence prevention,


• Highlight teen dating violence prevention as part of the comprehensive, community prevention program, Safe Schools, Healthy Students, that already funds prevention activities,


• Support better teen dating violence data to understand the scope of the problem as well as having a means of measuring the impact of prevention programs and policies,


• Support promising practices to further replicate, refine and test prevention models.