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Showing Her 'Spirit of Community'

Like so many who do good things for others, Holly Johnson wasn’t expecting any recognition for her volunteer work.

As her peers at Adams Middle School learned last week, however, Holly has been named Connecticut’s middle school winner of the annual Prudential Spirit of Community Award. She heads to Washington, D.C., in May to join 101 other middle school and high school honorees for an all-expenses paid trip with four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2015. It is the country’s largest youth recognition program that awards students based solely on volunteer service.

“Prudential is honored to celebrate the contributions of these remarkable young volunteers,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld in a national press release. “By shining a spotlight on the difference they’ve made in their communities, we hope others are inspired to volunteer, too.”

A 13-year-old 8th-grader who loves competitive gymnastics, Holly took her passion and turned it into a way to provide service to others, beginning at the age of 10. In her winning essay, Holly talks about her work with Connecticut Tumblers, a Special Olympics competitive team that trains in Guilford, as well as her work coaching kids through Guilford Recreation gymnastics offerings and her community service as a Girl Scout with Troop 62067 and Adams Peer Helper.

The essay made an impression on the Adams faculty, which selected Holly’s submission as the school’s top choice and sent it on to be reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected state honorees and distinguished finalists. Now in its 20th year, the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs, and HandsOn Network affiliates, were eligible to select a student or member for consideration as a state winner, based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact, and personal growth. Holly and a home-schooled high school student from South Windsor were selected as Connecticut’s 2015 top winners, known as “state honorees.”

Holly was notified she won the award in February, but on April 10, a member of the Prudential Financial team traveled to Guilford to surprise Holly by personally delivering the award during an 8th-grade assembly at Adams Middle School. Holly was also recognized at the ceremony by Principal Catherine Walker and Guidance Counselor Carolyn Vanacore, who advises Peer Helpers. She was awarded a $1,000 prize and a beautifully engraved silver Spirit of Community medal as part of the event.

Holly, who is also the current Excel Gold-Level State Vaulting Champ, thanks her first gymnastics coach, Florence Chittenden (a.k.a. Mrs. C) for giving her the chance to give back to her community at such a young age. Chittenden leads both non-profit Connecticut Tumblers and Guilford Parks & Recreation’s gymnastics programs.

“I’ve been doing gymnastics with Mrs. C since I was three or four years old at the Community Center. I started there and then I got better, so I moved to a pro gym for competitions,” Holly says. “But I came back because I knew if I wanted to get my skills better, I could work with Mrs. C, and at the end of her practice she offered me a spot to help with Connecticut Tumblers.”

Since the age of 10, Holly has volunteered with Connecticut Tumblers, primarily as a training buddy to an athlete with special needs. Holly trains her young gymnastics student, then competes with her. Right now, the duo is training for the Special Olympics state games taking place on June 7 at Southern Connecticut State University. The two are poised and confident in competition, and much of that is due to how Holly has approached coaching her partner.

“In my essay, I talked about how at first I noticed that my partner had low self-esteem, and I wanted to help her to feel better,” says Holly. “I showed how I was passionate about gymnastics and how my passion made me better. I convinced her she liked gymnastics, which also raised her self-esteem, because she started getting better because she liked it more.”

Holly is also working to help spread the word as Connecticut Tumblers fundraises (at www.gofundme.com/cttumblers) for new equipment that’s desperately needed—some of it is more than 50 years old.

“Like the bars are not modern; it’s like out-of-date men’s parallel bars made so they’re uneven,” says Holly.

She also likes helping out Mrs. C during Parks & Rec gymnastics classes for kids, because she knows the value of being exposed to gymnastics at a young age and likes the community aspect of the classes. She started helping out on Saturdays last year.

“I really like helping out in my community, so I’m glad I’m able to do this. And I really like working with kids. If someone’s scared to do something, I will find ways to make it sound really fun, and they’ll do it and say, ‘Wow, that was fun.’”

Holly, who also is working toward certification as an instructor through USA Gymnastics, says the fun for her is being able to combine her love of helping others with her love of gymnastics. In the meantime, being named one of Connecticut’s top two youth volunteers is quite a bonus.

“I feel like recognition is sort of a basic need in life; you need to have people pay attention to what you’re doing, and my need was just met with this,” she says. “It’s also about being able to inspire other people. I have actually gotten other people in my school involved. I think getting involved in the community influences the community and makes it a better place for everybody.”

To learn more about Connecticut Tumblers or to make a donation, visit www.connecticuttumblers.weebly.com or find Connecticut Tumblers on Facebook.