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Poway High student receives Congressional medal

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An incoming Poway High School senior was recently honored with the Congressional Award Gold Medal in Washington D.C.

Mackenzie Batten was among several teenagers being awarded the medal from the 52nd Congressional District and the only one from the Poway Unified School District. She was one of 267 people nationwide to be awarded the medal this year.

The Congressional Award Gold Medal was established in 1979 to recognize initiative, service and achievement in young people.

Earning the award requires over 400 hours of public service, along with achieving demanding goals in personal development and physical fitness.

Batten flew to Washington D.C. in June to be awarded her medal alongside her fellow recipients. “It was such an amazing experience,” said Batten. “I got a tour of the Capitol Building, and I got to meet several senators at the ceremony.”

Batten said she originally heard about the award from a friend, and has been working on the award for about three years.

Her community service, however, wasn’t because of the medal, she said. “I like doing community service,” said Batten. “I would have done it anyway. I thought it would a really cool thing to (work for the medal while she was doing it).”

As part of her 400 hours of public service, Batten flew to the island of Grenada, where she taught children how to swim. “Only about ten percent of the population of Grenada knows how to swim,” said Batten, who gave swimming lessons to about 200 children while she was there. “It was so beautiful there,” she said.

Batten is also involved in the National Charity League of Poway, and the Best Pals program at Poway High School, where she works with students with special needs.

She has also worked with Special Olympics in San Diego before, and said she was “so sad” she was going to miss Poway hosting Special Olympics teams from Ecuador and Togo, as she is currently working at a camp in Colorado. “I’m so sad I’m going to miss the events in Poway,” she said. “I’m so disappointed.”

Batten has also volunteered her time working with the San Diego and Escondido Humane Societies.

When she’s not volunteering her time, Batten said her favorite class at Poway High School so far has been AP human geography. “It’s a really interesting class,” she said. “It helps me relate to real life and real problems.”

Batten said she would like to study politics in college, and would like to someday become a politician. “That would be nice,” she said.

Despite finishing her required community service for the medal, Batten said she has no plans to scale back her volunteering. “I didn’t do it for the medal. I do it because I like doing it,” she said.

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