Community Service Award

The North Hills Community Service Award was established in 2021 to honor community residents making significant contributions to the North Hills School District through their time, talents and dedication striving to make the community a better place.

Awards were given in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before the program was phased out following a joint decision by the NHSD Administration and Board of Education.

Award Winners

2023

Sylvia Lynn is recipient of the 2023 North Hills Community Service Award.

Mrs. Lynn has spent hundreds of hours helping others and making a difference in our community. She served for 10 years on the NHSD Board of Education, has volunteered for many years at North Hills Community Outreach and has served for 11 years each on the Anchorpoint Counseling Ministry and Glade Run boards.

Mrs. Lynn continues to volunteer on the Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church Sunday School Council as well as many other local community groups.

The 2022 Community Service Award recipient Tom Baker nominated Sylvia for the award and writes that he has been “blown away by her kindness and community focus.”

“Sylvia Lynn is truly one of a kind when it comes to being a positive influence across Ross and West View, within our school district and across the region," he said.

2022

North Hills Community Outreach Executive Director Tom Baker is the 2022 recipient of the North Hills Community Service Award.

Tom served as a North Hills School District Board of Education member from 2011 through 2013.

He has volunteered thousands of hours as a Big Brother to his "Little Brothers" Preston (since 2002), Eric (since 2010), E.J. (since 2015), and Eddie (since 2018).

He volunteers weekly at Anchorpoint Counseling Ministry as a tutor.

Mr. Baker has served on a number of non-profit boards including Allegheny County Library Association, Visit Pittsburgh, Breathe Pennsylvania, Special Olympics of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Cares, LifeSpan, and the Baierl Family YMCA, among others.

Prior to being appointed executive director of North Hills Community Outreach, he was an active volunteer for more than a decade and served on NHCO's Board of Directors from 2010 through 2015.

2021

Michael DeSensi, the board president and program coordinator at the West View HUB, is the first-ever recipient of the North Hills Community Service Award.

Established earlier this year by the NHSD Board of Education, the Community Service Award recognizes a current resident of the district who has made a significant contribution to the community through their time, talents and dedication.

Nominated by their peers, awardees serve as role models for compassion and service, while striving to make the North Hills community a better place.

DeSensi has been volunteering his time at the West View HUB for the last 18 months.

He donates no less than 20 hours a week continuously developing community programs for the HUB and working with community partners to stock the HUB’s pantry, among other initiatives.

DeSensi was recognized and presented with a plaque at Thursday night’s school board meeting.

He was nominated by West View HUB founder Scott Pavlot.

"I'm nominating him because he freely shares the most valuable, and only finite, element in our existence: time,” Pavlot said in his nomination.

DeSensi lives in the district and his daughter attends North Hills Middle School.