A group of students at Kelly Walsh High School is taking on one of community service's biggest challenges - earning Congressional Award gold medals.

"A lot of kids are like, 'I want to be a leader,'" said junior Brooke Generose, one of the students seeking the award. "But they never do anything about it."

"They don't follow through with their ideas," added freshman Connor Diller.

The Congressional Award is a service honor given to students who set and meet goals in four categories. Requirements for the top medal include 400 hours of public service, 200 hours each of personal development and physical fitness, and a four-night exploration trip.

Students can start the program once they reach the age of 13 years, and they have until age 24 to complete the requirements. Wyoming's Congressional Award Council offers a $1,000 scholarship if the requirements are finished by graduation.

Service projects have long been a requirement for graduation at some high schools, and students may end up with hundreds of hours of community work.

Principal Brad Diller said Kelly Walsh does not require service projects, opting instead to encourage students to consider programs like the Congressional Award to build leadership skills and help the community.

"If 1,400 kids were all trying to do the right stuff, that's a tidal wave of good," Diller said.

Kelly Walsh's take on having students choose to do service projects isn't out of the ordinary. Schools around the country are beginning to focus on the meaning of service versus a set number of hours.

The Congressional Award is flexible in how students count hours and activities toward their medals. Sports practices are counted for physical fitness and a student council project can be counted for public service hours.

That flexibility makes the program appealing to students.

"Anybody can do it," said freshman Kyle Butler. "I'm already doing a lot of the stuff."

Regional coordinator Karen Sue McCutcheon said the program is fairly popular in Wyoming, but not many Casper-area students take on the challenge. McCutcheon is also an instructional facilitator at Kelly Walsh.

"The way the program is set up is the students really have to the initiative to do stuff," she said. "It's a way people should live their lives."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.