Schools
Pleasanton Teen Earns Congressional Awards
Claire Williams, a sophomore at Amador Valley High School, follows in her sister's footsteps.
Teaching kids to read, excelling at tennis and piano, helping feed the hungry at a soup kitchen and globetrotting to Europe have been a big part of sophomore Claire Williams’s life.
That devotion, hard work and travel has paid off by earning her gold, silver and bronze Congressional Awards.
Williams received the good news when Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, popped into her leadership class Tuesday morning to give her the bronze and silver awards. Williams and students from around the country will receive the gold awards next month in Washington, D.C.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I’m honored that you came to my school — it’s a big deal,” Williams, 16, said when McNerney announced the awards to her class. “I’m honored that I get to be a part of this program.”
McNerney praised Williams’s hard work and gave her class a little bit of advice before he took some questions.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“It’s so important that you distinguish yourself at this point in your life,” McNerney told the class of all grade levels.
“Get good at something you really love to do.”
Williams had to complete hundreds of hours of volunteering, activities for personal development, achieve a physical fitness goal and make an expedition to be eligible for the awards.
“She exceeded the minimum requirements,” McNerney said.
Williams volunteered more than 600 hours, doing tasks such as working with younger students at the Pleasanton Library, teaching non-English speakers to read. She also volunteered at the Open Heart Kitchen, which feeds the hungry. She mastered Beethoven on the piano and practiced hard to earn her half of the No. 1 spot on Amador Valley’s doubles tennis team.
“I like doing community service. I like working with kids,” Williams said.
She also traced her family’s lineage and her great-great-grandfather’s journey to the United States as an immigrant. Then she visited his home in Biella, Italy.
Williams’ sister, Sarah, received the same honors two years ago.
“I’m so proud of her. I get to see her at the awards (ceremony in Washington),” Sarah Williams, 18, said. “It’s very difficult — she has definitely worked hard.”
The girls' mother, Cindy Williams, said her daughters’ commitment to volunteering and personal development transcends a desire for awards.
“(Claire) is on her own path. They do it because they love it,” she said.
