Select 58 Awards
The Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 holds a yearly event honoring eighth graders who show exemplary service and citizenship to their school and community. The Select 58 Awards are open to all eighth graders attending Herrick and O’Neill middle schools.
All students are eligible to apply for the honor, as long as they are passing their classes. The application process opens in February 2024.
To view a video of 2023 honorees, click here.
To apply for this award, eighth graders must complete two steps:
- Complete the Select 58 Award Application by Friday, March 15, 2024.
- Ask someone (not a relative) to write and email a letter of recommendation to Interim Community Relations Coordinator Faith Behr at fbehr@dg58.org by Friday, March 15.
Please see additional details below:
The Select 58 Award application must be completed online in one sitting and asks students to provide the following information:
Basic student contact information and a photo for the Select 58 video
- Examples of the following projects completed in seventh and/or eighth grades:
- A list of 1-5 school service and/or community service projects that the student participated in during seventh and/or eighth grades, along with the impact these projects had on the student and/or student’s school/community
- A list of 1-3 school and/or community activities (non-service-related) that the student participated in during seventh and/or eighth grades, along with the impact these activities had on the community.
- A short essay answering the question, “Why is service to your community important to you?”
- Basic parent/guardian contact information and approvals
In addition to submitting the application, all Select 58 applicants must also ask someone who is not related to them to provide a short letter of recommendation for them. The reference must answer the following question: "Why do you feel this student should receive a Select 58 recognition award honoring outstanding school and community service?" The reference must email their letter to the Interim Community Relations Coordinator Faith Behr at fbehr@dg58.org by Friday, March 15, 2024.
A panel of judges unaffiliated with each middle school will evaluate applications using a rubric. Judges will determine how the activities benefitted the student, school and community, and will take the letter of recommendation into consideration. Student names will remain confidential and not viewed by judges. The top-scoring applicants for each middle school will receive the Select 58 Recognition Award.
Award applicants will receive an email by Friday, April 12 to inform them of whether they received the Select 58 Award. Award recipients will also receive an invitation to the 2024 Select 58 Award Ceremony, which will take place on Monday, April 29 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Herrick Middle School. Event details will be included in the invitation.
In addition, all Select 58 recipients will be celebrated in a video, and they will be highlighted in the Eighth Grade Promotion Ceremony program. Recipients will also receive 1-2 small gift cards to a local restaurant/ice cream shop.
Before a student submits his or her Select 58 application, the application will ask the student’s parent or guardian to review it and confirm that the information is accurate, to the best of their knowledge and that the application was completed independently by the student. The application also requests parent/guardian permission for District 58 to use the student’s photo in the celebratory Select 58 video, should the student receive the award.
For questions about Select 58, please contact Herrick Principal Dr. David Norman at 630-719-5810 or dnorman@dg58.org, or O’Neill Principal Lauren Humphris at 630-719-5815 or lhumphris@dg58.org.