T-burg Rotary to celebrate students

Trumansburg Rotary’s Student of the Month awards program is seeking nominations for the 2021-22 academic year to reward and recognize youth who exemplify Rotary’s motto, service above self, and who live Rotary’s four-way test in their everyday lives.

“Is it the truth?” explained Neil DeRaiche, Section IV track and field coordinator for Trumansburg Central School District and Trumansburg Rotary Club member. “Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? These are the things we take into consideration when choosing a nominated student to receive the award.”

One student will be selected for the Student of the Month award each month between November and May during the academic school year for a total of seven students. The Trumansburg Rotary, in collaboration with Charles O. Dickerson High School, will advertise the Student of the Month award process throughout the Trumansburg community.

Trumansburg Rotary will receive and review the Student of the Month award nominations and will select each month’s student. Trumansburg Rotary will then notify the Charles O. Dickerson High School principal of each month’s award winner.

Trumansburg Rotary will ask the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of each month’s student to sign a consent form for use of the student’s photo and bio in the press, on websites and in social media. The Rotary will then contact the student to congratulate them on their Student of the Month award, and the student will be featured in the local press, at Charles O. Dickerson High School and on the Trumansburg Rotary Facebook page and website.

The student, nominator, and parents or legal guardians will also be invited to attend a Trumansburg Rotary dinner and meeting, where the student will be asked to give a short speech about themselves and their service and be presented with an award and a $50 gift certificate from a local business of the winner’s choice. Depending on COVID-19 conditions, the Rotary meeting may be held via Zoom.

The Rotary will select one of the seven Student of the Month award winners for the Student of the Month annual award in June. The student will receive additional recognition and a $1,000 cash prize.

“Anyone who is personally acquainted with a student can nominate them,” DeRaiche said. “Charles O. Dickerson High School students — grades nine to 12 — or homeschool students — grades nine to 12 — within the Trumansburg Central School District that are students in good academic standing who have not received this award within the current academic year qualify.”

Nomination forms can be found and submitted at tburgrotary.org, and the Rotary will send an email confirmation upon receipt of the submission.

Nomination deadlines:
– December 2021 award nominations due Nov. 26, 2021
– January 2022 award nominations due Dec. 31, 2021
– February 2022 award nominations due Jan. 28, 2022
– March 2022 award nominations due Feb. 25, 2022
– April 2022 award nominations due March 25, 2022
– May 2022 award nominations due April 29, 2022

“Rotary has always been very involved with youth services within the community,” DeRaiche said. “That is one of the reasons I joined this wonderful group of people. The club as a whole has many programs for young people. The last few years many of these have been affected by COVID, so it is nice to come up with a new program to recognize young folks for the good they are doing. This program is brand new, and we are really excited about getting the word out to the community as a whole. It was designed to recognize a young individual for a service activity they currently are involved in. Anyone is able to nominate a deserving high-school-age kid.”

DeRaiche wants the community to recognize that these are awards and prizes and are not being classified as scholarships. The awards and prizes can be used however the youth winning them sees fit.

“College is not necessarily the path for every individual in life,” DeRaiche explained. “We want to recognize youth doing good things in our community and reward them with something for their future, regardless of what path they take and what their future holds. Obviously, a college education can be the choice for someone who wins, but it doesn’t have to be the only option. We want to recognize young people in our community helping others and going out and contributing to the community in a genuine, honest, heartfelt way.”

DeRaiche said that there “are no set guidelines to qualify other than contributing to the well-being of the Trumansburg community.”

“We really are hoping that this program will be successful, so we are encouraging everyone to please consider nominating a deserving candidate,” he said.