Selection Process
School administration will appoint a committee, who will select one male and one female student from the graduating class. If possible, at least one veteran working at the school should be on the committee.
The committee will select the medal recipients based on these criteria:
• Courage – Bravery in the face of opposition and danger, determination and force to do right without public applause and regardless of personal advantage: a quality of the intellect.
• Honor – Highly-developed moral character, moral excellence, strength and stability of character, high standards of conduct, devotion to duty, adherence to truth, keen sense of what is right, practice of clean speech and thoughts.
•Leadership – Ability to lead and to accomplish through group action, ability to work in harmony and in unison with other leaders in accomplishing group results, desire and ability to fill the voids in the lives of others caused by timidity, illness and other handicaps.
• Patriotism – An ideal of loyal Americanism, religious tolerance, righteous freedom and the willingness to defend our Flag against all enemies – foreign and domestic.
• Scholarship – Attainments in school studies, quality of school work reflecting the fine traits of industry, perseverance, efficiency and intelligence,
• Service – Kindliness, unselfishness, fellowship, protection of the weak, promotion of the interests and the welfare of associates and constructive aid for the support of schools and community.
The students selected should be the ones who exemplify all of these traits, not merely one or two of them.
The deadline for returning this information is two weeks before your scheduled graduation ceremony. The more lead time, the better the chances of having an American Legionnaire or Veteran present the medals to your students.