Members of the 2007-08 Greene County Youth Council were honored with a dinner and awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 7, at Link Hills Country Club.

The event was sponsored by Max and Barbara Lawson and Lawson Chevrolet.

Barbara Lawson, chairperson of the Greene County Youth Community Action Team, treated the students to a "Manners Matter" etiquette lesson during the dinner.

Scott Blake, a sophomore at Greeneville High School, was selected Youth Council Volunteer of the Year, with community service-oriented hours totaling 241.

Blake volunteered a total of 168 hours at the Boys & Girls Club, and participated in 12 projects organized by the Youth Council program.

Madison Waddell, a senior at Greeneville High School, was recognized as Youth Council Member of the Year for her enthusiasm, leadership, dedication and commitment to the program.

Waddell volunteered for 14 of the 22 organized projects available to students this year school while working a part-time job.

Kelly Burrell, leadership director at the Greene County Partnership, said "We want to congratulate these students for their outstanding participation in this program.

"Students from all five high schools were involved in the program this year, and I want to thank each and every one of them for their selflessness and continued willingness to make Greeneville and Greene County an even better community in which to live.

"The citizens of Greeneville and Greene County should be very proud of these students. They are just outstanding teenagers, and I am very privileged to have the opportunity to work with them."

The Greene County Youth Council Program is designed to involve high school students in a volunteer capacity for community service work.

Criteria for certification from the program require students to perform at least 50 hours of volunteer community service, as well as attend monthly meetings and participate in group activities.

During the 2007-08 school year, the Greene County Youth Council tallied more than 4,000 volunteer hours and participated in numerous activities, including those at Freewill Baptist Family Ministries, Gifts for Kids, Keep Greene Beautiful Adopt-A-Spot project, Christian Ministries/Salvation Army, Coal Fund, Food Bank, Embarq Coat Drive, Boys & Girls Club Halloween and Christmas parties, the Greeneville Christmas Parade, Morning Rotary Club's Victorian Tea, the 2008 Parenting Fair, and the Tiny Day/Red Edmonds Memorial Softball Tournament.

Members of the Youth Council will also be volunteers for the upcoming Iris Festival next weekend, May 17-18.

The Greene County Youth Council Program was recently honored by The Greeneville Sun and the Volunteer Center of Greeneville-Greene County at the Volunteer Spirit Awards as the top high school volunteer group, an honor the Youth Council has received the past five times the award has been presented.

The 2008-09 program is open to all high school students and will kick off this fall with a retreat, which will feature team-building activities and leadership training.

Greene County Youth Council is a program of the Greene County Partnership. For more information about Greene County Youth Council, contact Burrell at the Greene County Partnership, 638-4111.