Trenton teen earns congressional awards

By Carrie A. Mizell

Sixteen-year-old Amye Francis may not have her driver’s license yet, but that hasn’t stopped her from completing 200 hours of volunteer work.
Congressman Cliff Stearns presented the Gilchrist County resident with bronze and silver congressional award medals on Saturday morning.

The ceremony preceded a town meeting held at the Trenton Community Center.
Since being elected to the House of Representatives in 1988, Congressman Stearns says he has given out very few congressional medals, which makes the awards to Amye all the more special.
Amye is the daughter of Tracey and Robert Francis. She is a home schooled student currently working on her junior year of high school, while also being dual-enrolled at Santa Fe College.
In order to receive the bronze and silver medals, Amye logged 200 volunteer hours working at a therapeutic riding facility in Archer, known as Hope-Horses Helping People.
She has also provided foster care for local pet rescue and volunteered with Gilchrist County 4-H.
Amye has completed over 100 hours of archery training and over 100 hours practicing the violin.
On Saturday, Amye said that she has just 70 more volunteer hours to complete before she will obtain the congressional award gold medal, which requires an additional 200 hours in volunteer service and an additional 100 hours each in physical fitness and personal development. She hopes to finish meeting these requirements by the end of this summer.