By Terence Lee
Zosia Stafford, Terence Lee, Kevin Gao, Daniel Lim, Trevor Smith (left to right)
2017 President's Volunteer Service Award
Originally created by President George W. Bush, the Presidential Voluntary Service Award ("PVSA") aims to recognize the best of the American spirit and inspire everyone to live a life of community/volunteer service through presidential gratitude and national recognition. EqOpTech, a PVSA certifying organization, shares a similar vision to empower and enable student volunteers with a platform to gain real-world experience and leadership skills and inspires them to give back to the community.
On May 25, 2018, EqOpTech is proud to celebrate volunteerism recognizing students from Los Altos High School for their service and commitment to the underserved community in the area of technology and education. We applaud their 2017 community service projects to level the playing field in education.
- Host onsite Computer-in-the-Box workshop to train students volunteers to wipe clean, reinstall all operating systems, drivers, and software to restore the computer to its original functionality with a refurbishing kit to perform additional work offsite
- Deploy refurbished laptops to at-risk students at MVLA schools including Santa Rita, Almond, Egan, Blach, Monta Loma for project-based learning; Sunday Friends for STEM education; and a business school in Uganda.
- Partner with industry tech leaders to launch Tech Talks & hands-on STEM workshops series to benefit underserved students, from computer networking, cyber security, machine learning to crytography.
Congratulations To EqOpTech's 2017 PVSA award winners. We are honored to award the following well-deserving students with the official PVSA medallion, personalized certificate of achievement together with a congratulatory letter from President of United States.
- Zosia Stafford, Bronze Award, Los Altos High School
- Trevor Smith, Silver Award, Los Altos High School
- Daniel Lim, Gold Award, Los Altos High School
- Kevin Gao, Gold Award, Los Altos High School
- Terence Lee, Gold Award, Los Altos High School
PVSA Volunteers - Thank You For The Inspiration
Thank you to EqOpTech's PVSA volunteers for your passion, leadership and service in providing equal access to technology tools and resources in under-served communities. Your recognition inspires others to make an impact to change the world!
"The EqOpTech Board of Directors and Advisers joins me in congratulating all awardees for achieving this prestigious award," said Terence Lee, EqOpTech Founder. "Participating in the PVSA program has been a rewarding experience for both awardees and EqOpTech. This award has helped further our goals as a nonprofit serving to inspire our volunteers to go beyond what they would normally do and as a result have learned and developed greatly." A special thank you to Sra. Terri Salsman de Rodriguex, LAHS Spanish Teacher & EqOpTech Adviser for hosting the award ceremony and continuous support.
EqOpTech Inc. is proud to serve as an official certifying organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award. PVSA is offered to several age groups and each level corresponds to a different number of service hours within a 12 month period. Levels include bronze, silver, gold and the highest honor, the President's Lifetime Achievement Award.
For Award Criteria, please visit here. For more information on hours requirements, visit the President's Volunteer Service Award webpage or e-mail contact@eqoptech.org.
About the Presidential Volunteer Service Award
The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes, celebrates and holds up as role models Americans making a positive impact as engaged and deeply committed volunteers. In 2003, the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation launched the President's Volunteer Service Award to recognize the importance of volunteers to America's strength and national identity, and furthermore, to honor the deeply invested volunteers whose service is multiplied through the inspiration they give others.
The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes United States citizens and lawfully admitted, permanent residents of the United States who have achieved the required number of hours of service over a 12-month time period or cumulative hours over the course of a lifetime. To learn more about the President's Volunteer Service Award, visit www.presidentialserviceawards.gov
About EqOpTech
EqOpTech Inc., located in Los Altos, CA, is a 501(c)(3) IRS-designated tax exempt nonprofit organization that promotes and enables equal opportunity free access to technology for computer learning and STEM education in under-served communities. Visit EqOpTech at www.eqoptech.org
Our Equal Opportunity Technology program is made possible thanks to Los Altos Community Foundation community grant award. Visit here for more information.