Friday, March 16th, marked the 7th Annual SCASA Student Awards Luncheon, but it was another first for me; and like all of my other 'firsts' in Orange, it was exciting and immeasurably rewarding.
The other South Central Area Superintendents and I had a chance to publically recognize students from our schools who represent the very best in our children. Our Orange awardees were selected from among the many 6th graders who understand the value of hard work and dedication both in their schools and in their community. They all have shown attention to academic achievement, support for their peers and teachers, interest in a variety of outside pursuits, and dedication to the civic organizations to which they belong. Their teachers and principal recognized these qualities and it makes me proud to share their bios with you here. They represent their peers and our community very well, as you can see through these words from their principals:

Gunnar Poulimas, from Race Brook, "is athletic, conscientious, and kind. He is involved in the school store and safety patrol and takes care of the recess rack for the Race Brook School. Gunnar plays baseball for Orange Little League and is a black belt in karate. He has also spent years studying and practicing his musical talent, the drums. In his spare time, Gunnar also enjoys building model cars.

Gunnar has won many awards at Race Brook School, including the Art Achievement Award for the last three years, the Spanish Award, and the Physical Fitness Award for 2009 and 2010. He also won the PTA sponsored Reflections
Award in 2008 and 2009 and the Sportsmanship Award for Little League in 2010 and 2011. Gunnar’s positive disposition and caring ways have earned him Character Ed Awards in 2009 and 2010.

Gunnar’s friends recognize that he is respectful and possesses the qualities of a fine person by voting for him for the Peer Put-Up Award twice this year."

Isobel Browe, from Race Brook School, "felt honored when she heard the news that she was being recognized by SCASA; but when she found out that she was going to have to miss school to go to the luncheon, she was conflicted. Belle is an enthusiastic student who doesn’t want to miss anything that goes on at Race Brook School.

In addition to being committed to academics, Belle has enjoyed singing in the choir, playing the double bass, and solving problems as part of her Odyssey of the Mind team. Outside of school, she loves animals. Her menagerie includes hens, geckos, fish, a frog, a rabbit, dogs, and ducks, and Belle is as responsible about her animals as she is about school. Belle has participated in dance and soccer as extracurricular activities, but her favorite is horseback riding. She has developed confidence as a rider, but is also content to just be with the horses.

When Belle commits to a cause, she really commits. Despite lots of resistance from her mom and friends, Belle decided to shave her head to raise money for kids with cancer. In twenty-four hours, she raised over $500 dollars for St. Baldrick’s foundation, and she wore that buzz cut proudly."

Michaela Kraut represented Turkey Hill School. "With a twinkle in her eye and a winning smile, Michaela Kraut dances and sings her way into your heart. She is a member of Mulkerin Irish Dance Club and has been a chorister in the United Girls Choir for a number of years. Whether it is in a drama production or in the school’s talent show, she feels more than comfortable on stage.

Michaela has worked hard to achieve her academic standing and serves her school community in a variety of ways. She is a library helper, hall monitor, a member of Safety Patrol, Yearbook Committee, and Captain of Project Wisdom, responsible for organizing and delivering the morning character messages. As an active Girl Scout, Michaela participates in a variety of community service projects to support local organizations including the Orange Community Kitchen, Veterans’ Organization, and the Lions’ Club.

Michaela has great aspirations. She can’t wait for the day to come when she will be old enough to compete in Irish Step in Ireland and would like to eventually become a fashion designer. There is no doubt that this young lady of style will turn her dreams into reality and give “Coco” Chanel a run for her money."

Haegan O’Rourke "is an outstanding student and role model at Turkey Hill
School. Upon meeting him, you are immediately impressed by his maturity, intellect and fine manners. Haegan is a humble, unassuming young man who participates in the LEAP enrichment program and excels in all areas, especially the arts. He takes his drawing and painting lessons seriously therefore it is no wonder that his work has been featured in the Orange Art Show and that he has been the recipient of many awards including those from the PTA Reflections
Program. Most recently, Haegan was the recipient of the CAS Award for excellence in the area of visual arts. He has also taken piano lessons since first grade and is a member of the THS Drama Club.

Haegan serves his school community as a member of Safety Patrol, Reading Buddies, and works as a teacher’s assistant in a second grade classroom. He is
an avid skier and plays lacrosse and basketball. If Haegan’s dreams come true
he will attend Colorado University and pursue a career that will allow him to work with animals. This young man is a source of pride to all of us at Turkey
Hill School and is most deserving of this honor."

Jack Balocca, representing Peck Place School, is "a confident and independent student who is an excellent leader for his peers. His favorite subject is math, but he excels in all academic areas. Jack is involved in a broad collection of activities in and out of school. He is very athletic and enjoys playing in competitive sports. He has played
baseball for seven years and has been on the All-Star team three of those
years. Jack played soccer for seven years and has played basketball for three years. Jack gives back to his school by serving as a Flag Bearer, a member of the Math Team, LEAP, Student Council, and Dream Team, where he helps younger students develop social and life skills. He was in the First Lego League where he learned about biomedical engineering.

Jack has received many character education awards and has been recognized for his academic success. He was the classroom winner for the geography bee and spelling bee. He has been on the Battle of the Books team two years in a row. Jack is a creative problem solver in and out of the classroom. In his free
time Jack loves to read, play with his dog, Maggie, and play basketball with
his family.

Erin Barillier, also from Peck Place, "is an intelligent, kind and thoughtful student, sister, and friend. Her love of animals extends beyond her pets
to her commitment to vegetarianism, to raising money for the National Wildlife
Fund, and to attending Project Oceanology's Ocean Camp. Erin has given back to her community by donating her hair to the Locks of Love Foundation.

At school, Erin is a member of LEAP, the Math Team, Battle of the Books, and her Lego League team advanced to compete in the state competition. In the fourth grade, she was the spelling bee winner for her school and the district. She is a leader at her school serving as a student helper, bus monitor, and library and art room helper.

Erin has received many awards from school including Excellence in Spanish, Principal's Awards, and academic and C.A.R.I.N.G. awards. She is a creative student who thinks outside of the box in everything she does. Outside of school, Erin enjoys playing soccer, riding bikes with friends, swimming, reading, playing at the beach and being a kid."

What is D.A.R.E?

Kayla, a student in Miss Hart’s 6th grade classroom, took the microphone at Turkey Hill School to read her essay aloud to the small crowd gathered in the all-purpose room.  

“What is D.A.R.E?” she began, and then followed-up by answering her own question. “DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education… where 6th graders learn to make good choices and not do anything we are not supposed to do. For example, Officer [John] Aquino teaches us … not to smoke tobacco or smoke marijuana. We also learn about alcohol and not to have it since we are only 11-12 years old and you have to be 21 to drink alcohol.”

Kayla, representative of all of our DARE graduates, was poised and determined. Across three days, February 14 – 16th, our 6th graders participated in their DARE graduation and one-by-one shook the hands of Officer Aquino, their school principal, and many other town dignitaries.

During the ceremony, they also listened to their friends read essays which had won the DARE essay contest and viewed a slideshow of their classmates in the DARE program – all of which I am going to try to capture here with somewhat the same degree of excitement and enthusiasm as permeated the auditoriums on those days.

There was great music, a delicious array of desserts, parent involvement, community support, evidence of student achievement, faces filled with pride, a sense of celebration – all of the things that earmark a successful program.

From her own personal perspective, Emmy read, “Another skill I have learned in DARE is to say no to negative peer pressure. Positive peer pressure is good, but negative may seem cool now, except in twenty years it will sneak up on you! Just like someone I know who had a friend who was pressured to go out on mischief night and ended up getting arrested. Now it is on his permanent record and he may not get into the college of his dreams.”

The students shared a lot of facts: alcohol can kill brain cells; it slows down your body and can even cause a coma alcohol causes increased risk of injury in everything you do alcohol makes some people more violent and causes car accidents smoking causes cancer and respiratory problems nicotine is added to cigarettes to make smoking addictive more than 400,000 American die from tobacco-related causes each year most adults who smoke started when they were a kid marijuana distorts your vision and your coordination and lowers your blood pressure there is more tar in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke.

During their classes, the students learned a decision-making model and practiced it through role-playing and simulations.

They donned vision impairment goggles (which simulate being under the influence) and attempted simple routine tasks such as tying their shoes. They talked about the prevalence of alcohol in popular culture.

As Kayla wrote, “[Alcohol] advertisements are literally EVERYWHERE! On kids’ toys, painted on buildings… even on babies’ bibs. This is out of control!”

Her words reminded me of a popular song by Katy Perry (Last Friday Night) that my grandchildren like because it has a great beat and is ‘sing-able’; in fact, my 10-year-old grandson knows every word: “Last Friday night / Yeah we danced on tabletops / And we took too many shots / Think we kissed but I forgot / Last Friday night / Yeah we maxed our credit cards / And got kicked out of the bar / So we hit the boulevard / Last Friday night / Yeah I think we broke the law / Always say we're gonna stop-op / Whoa-oh-oah / This Friday night / Do it all again / This Friday night / Do it all again.” The idea that 'having fun' means ‘under-the influence’ is everywhere – reality TV, serial TV, sports program advertising, and so on.

I’m grateful Officer Aquino points that out to our children; I’m grateful he provides counter-messages that hopefully our students will recall well into their teens. About four years ago, I worked on a project with another district’s ‘Communityof Concern: Substance Abuse Council’.

Through a very extensive student survey, it became apparent that there were patterns in the habits of the parents and guardians who were raising the survey’s ‘safest’ teens (i.e. those students less likely to smoke, drink, ride in cars with people who were under the influence, binge or purge, try drugs, misuse prescription drugs, etc.).

Those patterns of prevention are worth remembering as our 6th graders move up into the middle school: Eat one meal per day with your children. Know where your children are, and with whom, when they are not at home. Set clear rules about the use of alcohol and drugs.

Become more aware of your children’s stress levels and more informed about stress reduction. Help your student become involved in civic organizations and volunteering in the community. Limit the amount of unorganized time your children spend ‘hanging out with friends.’

Officer Aquino, and the Orange Police Department, care very much about our children, and the D.A.R.E program is just one example of their commitment to our kids' well-being and safety.