Two Monroeville students will be presented with the St. Lucy’s Auxiliary to the Blind Junior Medallion Award at the Medallion Ball this month.
The auxiliary, whose mission is to “encourage and inspire a lifetime commitment of volunteer service in young women,” has been sponsoring the ball since 1964. The auxiliary, which raises funds for the visually impaired, honors each candidate with the St. Joan of Arc Medallion.
This year, the 60th Medallion Ball will be held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh on Nov. 24. Bishop David Zubik will present two local high school seniors, Juliette Barth and Jayla Chase, with this prestigious award.
Juliette, who attends Oakland Catholic High School, has completed more than 161 hours of community service, the majority at the Greater Pittsburgh food bank and local volleyball camps.
“I enjoy the chance to gather with the girls who are like minded who want to help people in their community,” she said.
In addition to volunteering, Juliette has been a Girl Scout for 10 years and has played volleyball with school and club teams for eight years, starting this year for the Oakland Catholic varsity team. She also participates in several high school clubs: National Honor Society, E3 Leadership Initiative and High School Ambassador.
She is a moderator of the anatomy and physiology club, co-captain of the school’s Ultimate disc-throwing team, and is a freshman class mentor. Juliette’s plans to attend a four-year university for nursing, according to her mother, Wendy.
Jayla, a senior at Gateway High School, has compiled 534.3 hours of community service over the past three years. Since eighth grade, Jayla has been a member of Larry Cervi’s East End Kids, a charitable organization that focuses on bringing joy to others through performances. She is a student director of the teen performance group, and that is where the majority of her service hours were completed. The group performs at nursing homes and retirement communities, for veterans, and at community events.
“Being the youngest of five siblings, I was raised on giving back to the community,” Jayla said. “When I am at nursing homes performing for residents and talking with them after, I am happy to see their smiles and to bring joy to their lives.”
About receiving the Junior Medallion Award, she said:
“I believe that while I enjoy helping others, it is our responsibility to serve the community using our God-given talents. This award promotes service, so it is a great honor that I am humbled to have earned.”
Jayla is a member of the Gateway High School Interact Club and has spent many years as a Girl Scout. She was selected this year as Monroeville’s Miss Independence, in is a scholarship program that promotes service to the community. Last year, she organized, collected and delivered over 600 holiday cards for nursing homes
She plans to attend a four-year university to pursue a dual major in dance and psychology.
To qualify for the Medallion Ball and to receive the St. Joan of Arc Medallion, a young woman must complete a minimum of 150 acceptable volunteer service hours over a three-year period. Volunteer hours must be completed between June 1 after her eighth-grade year and May 1 of her junior year.
Examples of acceptable volunteer hours are working at a fundraising event or nonprofit organization, driving the elderly to vote, coaching athletes enrolled in community sports, working as a counselor at a camp for underprivileged or handicapped children, mission trips, helping with church-sponsored community activities, helping at a local library, and peer tutoring.