Three high school students received an award this week from a finance specialist at Grosse Pointe South who applied by answering questions about their volunteerism.

Beatrice Birdsong created the award, named the Birdsong Spirit Award, to recognize students for their volunteerism. This was the first year for the award and Birdsong says she's already planning to do it again. She is working on a time table now, she said.

"I had a blast," she said.

She asked students to answer three questions:

• What volunteer activities have you performed?
• What have you learned about yourself from those activities?
• What are your future plans related to volunteerism?

Birdsong said she was not only impressed with the type of volunteer work the students performed but also with their answers. She had many applicants and ultimately, three students were chosen as the winners. They are:

• Margaret Stafford   
• Ryan Poirier
• Nicole Keller

Stafford and Poirier each received $250 and Keller received $100. Birdsong financed the award personally and believes recognizing volunteerism is important.

Each student also received a certificate of recognition.