Cooper High School's Students In Action team takes third at Minnesota region competition

Cooper High School’s Students In Action team (“CIA”) won third place and took home a gold banner at the Minnesota region Students in Action Spring Competition April 18. The competition included an online survey and an oral presentation on service efforts over the past year. The team also received a gold banner for their work. The girls are junior Pachia Xiong, senior Pakou Vang, junior Allison Merkl, junior Abigail Merkl and junior Madison Nichols.

According to event organizers, the competition was “a chance for student teams to showcase their service efforts over the past year and share how your team has used the three pillars of Students In Action - Leadership, Engagement and Impact.”

“The group worked extremely hard this year, and I’m very proud of them and their accomplishments,” said Caroline Geise, the college access and service learning coordinator at Cooper. “Cultivating a culture of service can have an impact far beyond the walls of Cooper, and I am pleased to see that their hard work earned them this recognition at the state level.”

Photo IDs: front row - Madison Nichols, Pachia Xiong, Pakou Vang; back row: Allison Merkl, Abigail Merkl

About the Jefferson Awards Foundation (taken from jeffersonawards.org):

“The Jefferson Awards Foundation is committed to tapping into the incredible capacity and spirit of young people. Through our Students In Action, Lead360 Challenge and GlobeChangers programs, we support, train and empower today’s youth to be leaders, problem solvers, entrepreneurs and impactful global citizens. We identify and celebrate local unsung heroes who serve in communities across the country through our vast network of media partners. We have also partnered with prestigious corporate and university champions, as well as a host of national partners, to build a culture of service in workplaces and communities across the country.”