Three Park County students recently received the Congressional Gold Medal Award — Congress’ most prestigious honor for youth.

Kendra Ostrom of Powell and Adelle Ostrom and Kathryn Sauerwein of Cody were among 70 Wyoming students to earn the award this year. The Gold Medal represents the pinnacle of Congress’ award program for youth. The honor requires each recipient to embark on a two-year goal-setting journey, logging a minimum of 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours of personal development and physical fitness and a five-day, four-night expedition/exploration.

Of the 70 recipients, 44 students — including Adelle Ostrom — traveled to Washington, D.C., last month to participate in the Congressional Award Gold Medal Ceremony. It was held at the U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center Congressional Auditorium on June 20. U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Rep. Liz Cheney met with and gave Gold Medals to students at the event.

At the June ceremony, members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives honored a total of 538 youth across 42 states and territories. The 2019 Gold Medal class was the largest in the national program’s 40-year history, representing an unprecedented year of servant leadership. This year’s class contributed 295,206 volunteer hours to their communities — an average of 548 hours per medalist.