There is just one month remaining for Volunteer Scholars members to complete their entries for the 2025–26 award year.

By 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, August 31, all activity details must be entered and all supporting documentation must be submitted.

During these final weeks, please remember:

Submit every activity for review. Entries left in Draft status cannot be seen or reviewed by our team.

Activities marked Documentation Requested, Revision Requested, or Question must be updated and resubmitted. Our team cannot review the revised entry until it has been submitted again.

Completing an award involves several additional steps beyond entering activity descriptions, dates, hours, and documentation. Several awards have requirements beyond just detailed, documented activities:

ACA

  • Enter your essay online.

NDSLA

  • Enter your essay online.
  • Upload your advisor/supervisor recommendation.
  • Complete and document 4 hours of leadership training.

Sacred Service Commendation

  • Enter your essay online

President’s Award for Academic Excellence

(for those completing 6th, 8th, and 12th grade)

  • Upload final report cards or transcripts
  • Upload test scores
  • Enter parent, counselor, or advisor statement

Complete All Other Required Fields

The final steps can be completed in the portal under Edit Volunteer Log. There, you need to:

  • Acknowledge the guidelines
  • Select your award type for AVSA (if applicable), from among a medal, coin, pin, or patch
  • Select your award type for NDSLA (if applicable), from among a medal, coin, pin, or patch
  • Mark your entries Complete
  • Finally, confirm your shipping address under Edit Volunteer.

Please allow enough time to review your account, respond to any requests, and complete all remaining award requirements before the deadline.

Once you mark Entries Complete, your account is locked for the 2025–26 award year, and no additional activities or details can be added for any award. Selecting Entries Complete confirms that you have finished entering all information for the year and signals to the Volunteer Scholars team that your awards are ready to be processed and shipped together.

Volunteers who have not yet joined Volunteer Scholars may still enroll. In accordance with our policies, new members may retroactively record qualifying community service, leadership, citizenship, and sacred service activities dating back to September 1, 2025, provided that each activity is itemized and the required documentation is uploaded.