WASHINGTON -- Erin Drischler never imagined when she and classmates Jackie Betz and Megan Neuf organized an assembly on sexual harassment at Shaler Area High School nearly two years ago that their message would extend far beyond the school's walls.

The teens' only goal was to raise awareness locally among young women about rape and sexual violence.

Word of their good works, though, rippled all the way to the nation's capital.

Last night, the three -- not two weeks after their June 6 graduation from Shaler -- were named one of five national winners of the annual Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for public service, one of the nation's highest honors for humanitarian work.

All three girls dissolved in tears when the award was announced last night. But by the time they reached the stage in a ballroom at Union Station, Miss Neuf, 18 of Reserve, had found her composure, almost.

"When people come up here and say they're unprepared, that's an understatement. We have nothing."

"I don't think any of us expected this," she said. "But we love what we do. When you get recognized like this, it shows how much we do to change the world and make a difference."

Ms. Betz, 18, of Shaler, thanked their school sponsor, Gregg Dietz, who accompanied the teens to Washington.

"He has made us into the women we are," she said.

Added Ms. Drischler, 17, of Shaler: "It's an absolutely amazing honor, very humbling, especially when you see the work of others."

The teens were among eight winners honored March 5 in the local 2007 Jefferson Awards, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. Two weeks later, they learned they had been chosen to attend the national ceremonies as the region's overall winner.

But it wasn't until last night's dinner that the girls learned about the Onassis award.

Administered by the American Institute for Public Service, the Jefferson Awards were created in 1972 by the former first lady, U.S. Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio and Sam Beard to create a Nobel Prize equivalent for volunteer activism. The Onassis award, which was added in 1974, is the highest distinction a local Jefferson Award recipient can achieve.

The Shaler seniors were selected from among 12,000 nominees and 350 local winners nationwide.

It was their work with M-Powerment, the group they created at Shaler as part of the school's Youth Advocacy League, that caught the collective eye of the Jefferson Award's 59-member board of selectors, which includes Hank Aaron, Whoopi Goldberg and Teresa Heinz.

Shocked to learn that one in four girls will be raped or sexually assaulted by their first year of college, the teens used a $2,500 grant from the Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers program to organize an assembly alerting girls to the dangers of sexual violence.

That led to them hosting an all-women's conference at Chatham University and regular presentations to middle and intermediate school students on topics ranging from body image and sexual violence to how to deal with stress, depression and gossip.

In addition, Ms. Drischler obtained a $500 grant from Shaler's parent association to buy safety whistles for senior girls before the prom.

Before this year, four people from Western Pennsylvania had won national awards. The most recent was Patrick Dickinson of McCandless in 1998, who was honored for creating baseball camps and tutoring programs for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania.

Other 2008 Onassis medal winners last night were:

Hank and Debbie Perret, of Lafayette, La.; Nancy Collins, of Tupelo, Miss.; Harry Vogler, of Denver; and Leah Rowley, of San Francisco.

National Jefferson Award Winners, also announced last night, were:

• Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who received the U.S. Sen. John Heinz Award for greatest public service by an elected or appointed official.

• Ocean Robbins, who received the Samuel S. Beard Award for the greatest public service by a person 35 or younger.

• Edward Michael Jagen, who received the S. Roger Horchow Award for greatest public service by a private citizen.

• Darell Hammond, who received the award for greatest public service benefiting the disadvantaged.