Amelia George, Centre College, Volleyball

AMELIA GEORGE OF CENTRE COLLEGE, a junior on the women's volleyball team, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending November 6, 2011.

George, who hails from Boston, Mass., is an International Studies major with a concentration in Development. In the summer of 2010, she worked with Amigos de las Americas as a Community Organizer in an area of rural Nicaragua. In partnership with PLAN Nicaragua, she worked on a pilot project entitled "Youth Leadership and Multimedia" which worked with local youth and youth from the United States and Latin America to address social issues that were important to them and their communities. George worked with community leaders on project proposals and the completion of projects that were desired and would assist their respective communities. In addition, she also served as a direct mentor to youth volunteers and local youth.

During Spring 2010, she participated in the Washington Semester at American University in Washington, DC. The program was called "Transforming Communities" and its course of study focused on all of the factors that influence and impact a community including healthcare, education, community organizing, and local and national politics. As part of the program, George and her classmates visited and worked closely with a number of local organizations to better understand all of these factors. They did a number of community service projects with local organizations, including reading at local schools and working in after school programs. Additionally, as part of the program she interned at a small non-profit organization called I Live To Lead. The organization focuses on developing a leadership training curriculum for adolescent girls worldwide – an idea that sparked her interest, as both international studies and education are of great interest to her.

While participating in this program, she was the president of the Student Association designed specifically for the Washington Semester students in order to foster community among the large group of students that come from colleges across the United States and internationally. As President, George helped lead a number of social events and community service opportunities,including a fundraiser to support Japan in the aftermath of its tsunami and a book drive for a libraries abroad.

In the Summer of 2011, she continued to work with the program Amigos de las Americas as a Coordinator of Programs for a "Youth Leadership and Environmental Health" program in rural Panama. This program worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Economic and Social Development, Association of Environmental Health and a Panamanian youth led leadership organization entitled Panama Verde. She assisted in the oversight of community led projects in 24 communities, and worked directly with communities to create projects and youth in the area to organize themselves into youth groups.

On Centre’s campus, George has been involved with CentrePeace, and worked on bringing educational events to the campus such as discussions on immigration issues. She has recently become involved in the Diversity Student Union which works to promote cross cultural interaction and understanding among the community.

In the 2011 volleyball season, George was awarded the Colonel Award.