Monte Vista Student Wins Congressional Award Gold Medal

DANVILLE, CA — Monte Vista High School student Ethan Logue was awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal, one of the nation’s most prestigious youth prizes, for his volunteering and athletic achievements. He will travel to Washington, DC to receive his medal.

The award is open to all American teenagers, and asks them to set goals in four program areas: Voluntary Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness, and Expedition/Exploration. Participants are then asked to keep detailed records to verify that they achieve their goals.

Logue volunteered over 400 hours at the Contra Costa County Food Bank. He spent almost two to six hours there every weekend for much of his time in high school, often by packaging thousands of pounds of various products into distribution-ready packages. He also gave bags of food to people who needed it.

“This was by far my favorite way to volunteer as I got to meet and see so many people and really experience, firsthand, who this food was going to and how it was helping thousands of families,” Logue told Patch in an email. “Working at the food bank is an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life as it provided me with such a new perspective and hope for humanity. It has made me really go back and look at everything I have and why I should be grateful for it each and every day.”

Logue was also honored for his fencing accomplishments. He says that putting in the hours to complete the Physical Fitness portion of the award helped him improve. He has since been recruited for the Division 1 Fencing team at Sacred Heart University. He has been awarded the USA USA Fencing All-Academic First and Second Team Awards in 2020 and 2021, and the USA Fencing All-American First Team from 2020-2022.

“This award means so many things to me, but I truly feel as if the program simply gave me the excuse to pursue my interests in various parts of my life,” he said. “Without the goals and hour requirements that the award set, there’s a good chance that I would have never done it by myself. I’m so thrilled and proud to finally be completed with the program, as well as prepared to tackle wherever comes next. I highly recommend the program to anyone who may need that extra push and incentive to pursue their own interests to the fullest.”