70 Wyoming students received Congress’ most prestigious honor for youth

Seventy Wyoming students received the Congressional Gold Medal Award, Congress’ most prestigious honor for youth this year.

Of those 70, 44 traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Congressional Award Gold Medal Ceremony held at the U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center Congressional Auditorium on June 20. U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, Senator John Barrasso, M.D., and Representative Liz Cheney met with and gave Gold Medals to students at the special recognition event. (Photos included with release or available by request.)

At the June ceremony, members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives honored 538 youth across 42 states and territories at the ceremony, including the 44 students who traveled from Wyoming. The 2019 Gold Medal class was the largest in the national program’s 40-year history, representing an unprecedented year of servant leadership. This year’s class contributed 295,206 volunteer hours to their communities, an average of 548 hours per medalist. 
The Gold Medal represents the pinnacle of Congress’ award program for youth. The honor requires that each recipient embarks on a two year goal-setting journey, logging a minimum of 400 hours of Voluntary Public Service, 200 hours of Personal Development and Physical Fitness, respectively, and a 5 day, 4-night Expedition/Exploration.
Wyoming Gold Medalists included the following:
Six from Albany County:

• Alice Attebery, Laramie
• Noah Dreiling, Laramie
• Sydney Holles, Laramie 
• Michaiah Jones, Laramie
• Carmen Leon, Laramie
• Cody Perkins, Laramie

Three from Campbell County:

• Caroline Johnson, Gillette
• Makala Johnson, Gillette
• Chloe Rankin, Gillette

Three from Carbon County:

• Kamry Knotwell, Encampment
• Makaylah Berkovitz, Rawlins
• Selena Landa, Rawlins

Two from Goshen County:

• Logan Grosz, Torrington
• Samantha Jurkowski, Torrington

39 Students from Laramie County:

• Mercedes Bartels, Burns
• Sydney Bell, Cheyenne
• Abigael Bylow, Cheyenne
• Elijah Cole, Cheyenne
• Mykenzie Dean, Cheyenne
• Samantha Dijohn, Cheyenne
• Abigail Fearneyhough, Cheyenne
• Emma Geringer, Cheyenne
• James Hayes, Cheyenne
• Isabelle Houseman, Cheyenne
• Maeve Knepper, Cheyenne
• Araceli Ledesma, Cheyenne
• Arianna Lewis, Cheyenne
• Zoey Mares, Cheyenne
• Mackenzie Marler, Cheyenne
• Claudia Miller, Cheyenne
• Junuenth Morales, Cheyenne
• Abby Morillon, Cheyenne
• Tommy Neal, Cheyenne
• Thanh Nguyen, Cheyenne
• Tiffany Passehl, Cheyenne
• Ruth Potter, Cheyenne
• Emily Purifoy, Cheyenne
• Haley Purifoy, Cheyenne
• Dylan Raymond, Cheyenne
• Nicole Reyes-Aguilar, Cheyenne
• Grace Ritschard, Cheyenne
• Lauren Salsgiver, Cheyenne
• Camden Schmidt, Cheyenne
• Abigail Shameklis, Cheyenne
• Jakob Shuey, Cheyenne
• Colby Stockton, Cheyenne
• Nicole Talkington, Cheyenne
• Amelia Van Winkle, Cheyenne
• Cassidy Weibel, Cheyenne
• Eleccia Wells, Cheyenne
• Micayla Whitfield, Cheyenne
• Taylor Wilson, Cheyenne
• Alyssa Miller, Pine Bluffs

Seven students from Natrona County:

• Andrew Gronning, Casper
• Jayla Johnson, Casper
• Katie Johnson, Casper
• Taylor Maese, Casper
• Audrey Mitchell, Casper
• Quentin Moter, Casper
• Johanna Moter, Evansville 

Three students from Park County:

• Adelle Ostrom, Cody
• Kathryn Sauerwein, Cody
• Kendra Ostrom, Powell

Five from Sweetwater County:

• Lane Hutchison, Green River
• Alyssa Bedard, Rock Springs
• Lorin Jones, Rock Springs
• Megan Leavitt, Rock Springs
• Julianna Pizzato, Rock Springs

One student from Teton County

• Jazy Manoukian, Jackson

One student from Uinta County

• Madison Bindl, Fort Bridger