Monica Bao - Gold Award

School: Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering High School
Category: Teens (11-15)
Hours: 108.5

Monica is currently a Sophomore at Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering High School. Cooking at a local church to serve for those in need downtown was her first experience in volunteering, and since then she started to love doing it.

Having a wide perspective of the diversity in Portland has always been a big value to Monica. Ever since middle school, she developed her passion for colorguard from volunteering at Beaverton Stars, a program to help kids with special needs dance and be themselves. She also volunteered at the Beaverton Youth Peer court, experiencing the justice system at work, as well as meeting and hearing the stories of students all over Beaverton.

Monica is very passionate in promoting STEM to her community. As a part of Cyber Youth Defender, she has been giving free cybersecurity classes to middle school and high school students for two summers. As a co-captain and outreach lead of the FTC team Revamped Robotics # 12808, she traveled to and from all over Oregon to teach kids and fellow peers about engineering and technology, also volunteering as First Lego League Jr competition judge, livestream staff on First Lego League competition, and emcee at the FTC League Meet and the State Competition.

When Monica is not volunteering on STEM or community activities, she likes to play double bass or cook with her friends to test new dish recipes.

Oregon Chinese Coalition is proud to join the President of the United States in recognizing the volunteers who consistently take the time to make a difference in the lives of others. Therefore, it is a great honor to present the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) to Monica Bao.