Young peo­ple need reg­u­lar recog­ni­tion through­out their value-​​forming, devel­op­men­tal years to feel that they are spe­cial and impor­tant in their own eyes and the eyes of par­ents, role mod­els, and peers. Recog­ni­tion and tak­ing pride from well-​​earned accom­plish­ments help to fos­ter healthy self-​​esteem. When peo­ple feel good about them­selves and take pride that they are “doing the right thing” in their lives, it has a pos­i­tive effect on school, rela­tion­ships, fam­ily, serv­ing oth­ers, fit­ness of mind and body and the devel­op­ment of proper values.

The Amer­i­can Adven­ture Ser­vice Corps seeks to applaud mem­bers on an ongo­ing basis with awards, recog­ni­tion, and oppor­tu­ni­ties to accom­plish feats they never imagined.

Recog­ni­tion din­ners are total fam­ily gath­er­ings where recent activ­i­ties are reviewed by slide, video and oral sto­ry­telling. Mem­bers receive noto­ri­ety as they are pre­sented awards in front of their com­mu­nity of fam­ily, friends, and rel­a­tives. Some of the many numer­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties for recog­ni­tion include Wilder­ness First Aid course, Water Safety course, learn­ing to jug­gle, walk a slack wire, 50-​​mile back­pack trips, new mem­bers, one-​​year mem­bers, graduate’s din­ner, longer expe­di­tions of hun­dreds of miles, spe­cial climb­ing and rope ascend­ing events, the annual most active mem­ber award, ser­vice, learn­ing to roll a kayak, and more.

The pres­ti­gious Ulti­mate TAASC Award requires a min­i­mum of three years of very active par­tic­i­pa­tion in all adven­ture and ser­vice activ­i­ties and is bestowed to only the most com­mit­ted mem­bers. It is a cre­ative, inter­ac­tive award, where the mem­ber grad­u­ally pieces together a rock climb­ing belay anchor on their own large, per­sonal framed plaque.