PROVO — He's only 16, but he's earned two congressional medals and a third is on the way.

Sam Brady, a junior at Lone Peak High School, received Congressional Award Bronze and Silver medals from U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, on Monday.

Congressional Awards are for young Americans ages 14-23. The only other medal awarded by the U.S. Congress is the Medal of Honor, reserved for members of the military.

The award challenges young people to sent goals in volunteer service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition, said Mark Grant, who mentored Brady through the program.

Brady received the Bronze and Silver Medals with nearly 600 hours of volunteer service to the Christa McAuliffe Space and Education Center, based at Central Elementary in Pleasant Grove. He also helped friends with Eagle Scout projects, played hockey, snowshoed up the summit of a mountain, and explored campus live at his dream school, the U.S. Air Force Academy.

"The goals worked out well," he said. "They were a lot of things I was doing, volunteering at the space center and playing hockey."

Brady will receive the Gold Medal this summer in Washington, D.C.

The award is not subject to academic standards, but Brady is an honors student, said his mother, Jane Brady.

Ambitious? Yes, Jane Brady said, but "I think his very best quality is his cheerfulness."

In Cannon's decade in Congress, he's only given out a handful of such awards.

"It's a lot of work, and kids go through and end up excelling," Cannon said.

Brady's loved ones accompanied him to meet Cannon and receive the awards, which were placed around his neck.

Friend Kacee Hildebrandt held the medals in her hands and exclaimed, "They are heavy!"

Megan Warner, another friend, also studied the medals.

"These are hot," she said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com