Senior Receives Award from Green Bay Packers

Senior%2C+Cara+Steiner%2C+receives+the+Give+Back+Award+from+Green+Bay+Packers+President+and+Chief+Executive+Officer+Mark+Murphy+in+the+Lambeau+Field+Atrium.

submitted by Cara Steiner

Senior, Cara Steiner, receives the Give Back Award from Green Bay Packers President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy in the Lambeau Field Atrium.

Zoe Hein-Pinkert

Cara Steiner, a CHS senior, won the Green Bay Packers Give Back Award, which has been recognizing Wisconsin’s outstanding volunteers since 2000.

Steiner volunteers with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Team #3381, also known as Droid Rage, which is part of an international program for high school students that includes mentors who teach the students.

“My robotics mentor Arrow Guetschow nominated me,” said Steiner. “My mom knew about it, but I had no idea that I was nominated. He nominated me because I do a lot for the robotics program. I am passionate about it, and this was his way of recognizing me and thanking me for everything that I do.”

The Packers invite non-profit organizations to nominate outstanding volunteers who demonstrate leadership, dedication and commitment to bettering their communities. To be eligible for nomination for the Give Back Award, nominees must have at least one year of service with the non-profit and cannot be compensated for their time.

Each recipient of the Give Back Award received $2000 for the non-profit that nominated him or her.

“For all of the work I’ve put in, it feels nice to be recognized. I never thought I would be nominated for any type of award, and I never expected my mentors to nominate me for anything,” said Steiner. “So this award means a lot to me because I know that they put a lot of thought into it. My favorite part about the whole thing was just being able to meet all of the amazing people that were a part of it and just being recognized for all of my hard work.”

The ceremony for the Green Bay Packers Give Back Award was held on November 6, in the Lambeau Field Atrium. Recipients for this award are chosen from the following categories: Youth (under 18), Adult (18-65) and Senior (over the age of 65). A total of ten recipients are chosen.

“The ceremony was cool, but also a little weird because I was the only youth recipient. And I was with a lot of adults who had to be 40-plus years old. They had so much more experience than me,” said Steiner. “Only me and nine other people won the Give Back Award. I went to the ceremony with my mother, my grandparents and my two robotics mentors.”

When the recipients are chosen for the Give Back Award, the non-profit that nominated them gets a message that they must then relay to the recipient.

“One day, about a month before the ceremony, I got a text during Jazz Band from Arrow saying, ‘You won the Give Back Award!’ It was a wow moment for me,” said Steiner. “I have been in robotics since I was in eighth grade. There are 40 people on my team, and I was the only one who got nominated for the award. I never could have expected it.

The FIRST Robotics Competition gives high school students and their adult mentors the opportunity to work and create together to solve a common problem, according to the program’s website: FIRSTinspires.org.