The Philly Service Award program, founded last year by Shelly Fisher, showcases the impact that teenagers can have on local communities, writes Delaney Parks for The Philadelphia Citizen.

The program is a competition among Philadelphia high school students who are awarded grant funding to develop and implement service projects aimed at improving the city.

Fisher realized through her experience with running the Herb it Forward Scholarship Foundation that the key to success was supporting creative kids with big ideas.

She then assembled a team for her next project, which included the Philly Service Award program’s Young Adult Advisory Board, consisting of civically-minded young adults only a few years older than the contest participants.

The team contacted all public, private, and charter high schools in the city, asking for proposals for student-led service projects. Approved projects received $1,000 each in funding.

Five months later, a panel of nonprofit judges looked at completed projects and gave out a half-dozen awards.

More than 1,000 students completed 86 service projects in the program’s first year with the support of 65 educators. Thirty-two public district schools, 13 public charter schools, and 17 private schools took part in the program.

“We found the district was very supportive, and the teachers gravitated towards [The Philly Service Award],” said Fisher.

Read more about the Philly Service Award in The Philadelphia Citizen.

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