Memorial High School's Mary And Michael Schiff Named 2018 Youths Of The Year
Youth Resources named Reitz Memorial High School seniors and twins Mary and Michael Schiff as the organization’s 2018 Youths of the Year during its 24th Annual Hall of Fame Celebration on April 19. St. Benedict Cathedral Parish hosted the event in the Woodward Center.
Youth Resources named Mary and Michael Youths of the Month in August 2017, making them candidates for the Youth of the Year Award.
“Community service is at the heart of all that we do at Youth Resources,” Youth Resources’ Make a Difference Grants Program Coordinator Jessica Fehrenbacher said while announcing the Schiffs as winners. “No pair of students reflects this type of service mentality more than Michael and Mary Schiff.
Fehrenbacher told the sold-out crowd of around 275 people about the twins’ involvement in Youth Resources’ TEENPOWER and Teen Advisory Council programs (both are members of TEENPOWER Youth Staff and serve on TAC’s Executive Board), as well as their commitment to Holy Rosary Parish in Evansville, where they have been servers for many years.
At Reitz Memorial, Mary is involved in the theatre program and sings at Mass. She also volunteers at a soup kitchen.
Michael is a member of the Reitz Memorial student council and has held several leadership positions as a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 312. He recently became an Eagle Scout thanks in part to his work to improve a 600-stone walking path at the high school. The twins are members of National Honor Society.
“It’s really good to get involved with the community and a good way to give back to the community that built me,” Michael said previously about his dedication to service. Mary added, “High school is right now, but service will be forever. It gives me a plan for my future and an outlook on what I might want to do.”
Mary plans to attend Indiana University and Michael will head to Purdue University in the fall.
During the Hall of Fame Celebration, several students had the opportunity to share the ways in which they utilized grant funding provided by Youth Resources’ Make a Difference Grants program.
Gavin McMinn and Isabelle Hamilton, students at St. Benedict Cathedral School, explained how they and other students in the school’s TEENPOWER Club served meals to firefighters during the week of 9/11 and offered lunch to veterans in honor of Veterans Day. They also talked about the PowerFest event they are planning.
Kabir Sheth, a sophomore at Signature School, talked about the after school math program he organized at Delaware Elementary School.
St. Wendel Catholic School fourth-graders Allena Jo Storey, Grant Wenger and Kaleb Rheinlander told guests about the care packages they sent to members of the military.
In addition to the formal presentations offered by these three grant recipients, they, along with representatives from Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School and additional students from St. Wendel, Thrive and Patchwork Central set up informational displays about their Make a Difference Grant projects so that guests could learn more about them.
A full list of Youth Resources’ 2018 Hall of Fame Celebration winners includes:
Outstanding Male Alumni: Jeremy Brown (former Youth Resources’ TEENPOWER Program Coordinator)
Outstanding Female Alumni: Julie Bowman (Director of Programming for College Mentors for Kids in Indianapolis)
Outstanding Volunteers: Ray & Trisha Dudlo (attorneys at Stoll Keenon Ogden & Bingham Greenebaum Doll, Vanderburgh County Teen Court adult volunteers)
Robert “Scooter” Tiemann Servant Leader Award: Claudia Duncan (Mater Dei High School senior) & Braden Herendeen (North High School senior)
Nancy Sieben Koehler Scholarship winners: Alicynn Delancy (Mt. Vernon High School senior) & Adam Gunderloy
Outstanding Male Senior: Kristian Lockyear (Signature School senior)
Outstanding Female Senior: Annie David (Memorial High School senior)
Youths of the Year: Mary and Michael Schiff (Memorial High School seniors)
About Youth Resources -Since 1987, Youth Resources has involved more than 150,000 young people in local community service projects while training them to be stronger leaders and inspiring them to be lifelong volunteers. YR’s Teen Advisory Council, TEENPOWER, Vanderburgh County Teen Court and Make a Difference Grants are unique, evidence-based programs that impact regional youth ages 5-18. Learn more about Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana at youth-resources.org.
