{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221205127/http://waters.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=366598", "Torrance resident receives top Congressional Award for youth", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Maxine Waters", "W000187", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Max Kaplan, a 20-year-old Ivy League student who graduated from South High School, has earned a gold Congressional Award medal, one of only 236 awarded this year nationwide.\nThe honor is the highest Congress can award to youths aged 14 to 23, South Bay Rep. Maxine Waters said in presenting Kaplan with the award at a ceremony held this week at Torrance City Hall. The event was held during Kaplan\u2019s holiday break from Princeton University because he was unable to attend a ceremony in June in the nation\u2019s capital.\n\u201cThis was a really cool experience and I appreciate Congress\u2019 role in this awesome honor,\u201d Kaplan said as his parents, Neil and Adele Kaplan, looked on.\nEarning the highest of six Congressional Award levels was a four-year process for the Princeton sophomore.\nTo earn one, participants set and achieve individual goals in four program areas: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration.\nKaplan volunteered as one of six student delegates for the California State PTA Board of Managers who lobbied against state cuts in school funding.\n\u201cIn my family, education is a first priority,\u201d he said in an essay explaining his public service. \u201cAs a public school student, I see how education is also the cornerstone of community. Everyone is entitled to a quality education; our future depends on it, yet financial problems separate this quality from reality.\u201d\nKaplan spent the summer of 2009 interning at Carson-based Major League Soccer club Chivas USA. At age 15, he was the youngest-ever intern at the franchise.\nHe also improved his mile time by more than a minute while running cross-country in high school and organized a four-night camping trip for friends in Mammoth Lakes, his first overnight experience in the wilderness.\nKaplan was the lone South Bay recipient this year of a Congressional Award.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221205127/http://waters.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=366598"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.371503971517086, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}