The award recipients will receive:

• An official President’s Volunteer Service Award pin.
• A personalized certificate of achievement.
• A note of congratulations from the President of the United States.
• A letter from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

Application:

Applications for the President's Volunteer Service Award  is available below, and can be submitted whenever the hours are met.  

The application can be submitted either electronically or by paper.  If submitting by paper, please print and mail to Attn: Lucie Guo, ScienceDays, 2101 Chestnut Street, Unit 1614, Philadelphia PA 19103.  If submitting electronically, please email to awards@sciencedays.org -- and since the application requires a faculty signature, having your faculty sponsor email us at awards@sciencedays.org is also sufficient for an electronic application.

Download the information packet and the application.

Note that the application requires a rather extensive log of all your ScienceDays activities.  Therefore, it may be helpful to keep a long as you go!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:  How is the President's Volunteer Service Award different from the Distinguished Mentor/Director Awards?
A:  In several different ways!  The Distinguished Mentor and Director Awards are purely a ScienceDays recognition and is not affiliated with the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.  Also, there is no requirement for the number of hours that you must have spent during the year on ScienceDays activities.  The PVSA requires an immense time commitment (100-250+ hours per year) and requires an activities log, as well as a signature from your faculty sponsor.  Also, the PVSA applications must be mailed, but the Distinguished Mentor/Director awards will have online applications.

Q:  Okay.  Do they have anything in common?
Yes!  The essay questions are essentially the same for both applications.  But the Distinguished Mentor/Director Awards don't require a detailed activities log.

Q:  Can I apply to both awards?
Sure, if you want to!  And no, you don't have to submit the same essays twice.

Q:  Is the PVSA competitive?  Am I competing with my fellow classmates?
Not at all!   All qualified applicants will receive the awards.  The number of hours that you have spent this year will qualify you for the award.  We also look for dedication, creativity, and leadership.  We are looking for the students who stuck to the challenge for the whole year.

Q: So I heard that there are different levels of this award.  How does that work?
Yes.  There are Bronze, Silver, and Gold, and each has a different requirement for the number of volunteer hours.  For details, download the information packet and application.

Q: I volunteered in a ScienceDays  Summer Tour.  Can I count those hours?
Definitely!  All summer activities can be counted toward your hours.

Q: Do I have to pay a fee to get this award?
No.

Q: I have other questions.  Who should I ask?
We'd love to answer your questions.  Just email us at awards@sciencedays.org

For more information about the award, visit the PVSA website.