23rd Annual Youth Recognition at College Park Post & Unit 217
By Ivy Christoffers
The NJROTC Color Guard from Northwestern High School who participated in advancing the colors at the annual "Youth Recognition Day" at College Park American Legion Post 217. (L-r) Cadet Wilber Alvarez, Color Guard Commander Erika Velasquez, Cadet Commanding Officer AAron Fernandez and Cadet Michael Hang. Post Commander Tom Davis is in the background.
In this day and age not enough attention or praise is given to those who accomplish greatness unless you are either in the arts or the political arena. Many of our youngest citizens reach and exceed goals every day but go unnoticed in the hubbub of everyday life. We members of Post and Unit 217 American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary do what we can to recognize those youth who excel and become role models for their peers. To this end we have held our Youth Recognition Day for the past 23 years and will continue to do so in future years. This was held on Jan. 27th, 2007.
The first group to mention are the students from 3rd grade for their patriotic essays. In grades 3 & 4, 1st place went to Dwayne Stanton, 2nd to Edwin Suarez, and 3rd to Maria Aguilar. In grades 5 & 6 the winners were Adam Mackie, 1st place; Sonia Small 2nd place, Selina Donahue 3rd place. Gonto Robinson received an honorable mention. In grades 7 & 8 the winners were Nicholas Mackie who received 1st place, Irving Delco 2nd place and Samuel Ijeomah 3rd place. All of these essays were insightful and well written, which makes it very difficult to choose between them. The Unit receives more than 100 essays each year, and the judges have a daunting task to choose between them.
Each child read their essay for the audience that included their families and some teachers. Each winner received a cash award and citation.
The second group of youth receiving recognition was the Girl Scouts who made the Gold designation and the Boy Scouts who reached the high rank of Eagle Scout. Only 3% of Girl Scouts across the nation ever reach the Gold designation as it takes many hours and years of dedication and community service to be considered. Recognized for their achievement were Angela Greene and Diane Thompson.
Eagle Scouts recognized were Christopher Donals, Edward Mellott, Kevin Schwartz, and Andrew Sellers whose accomplishments have been well publicized in this newspaper over the past few months. They all received the "good citizen" medal and a citation, as did the Girl Scouts.
Now on to the boys and girls who attended Boy’s State and Girl’s State. These students are the immediate past junior high school students at Northwestern High School. The Girl’s State citizens who attended Frostburg University in June were Pacia Flores, Jessica Flores-Soriano, Erika Velasquez, Jessica Ladow, Sandra Lucero, and Estefania Seminaro-Calderon.
Those students who attended Boy’s State held at McDaniel College in western Maryland were Rodney Campbell, Jr., Jaques Diggs, Ian Taitano, Jorge Lopez, Jose Centano-Melendez, Aaron Fernandez, Maurice Taylor, Mejia Ustinov and William McCombs. This program teaches the rudiments of government from the grassroots level up to the State Senators and Governor with campaigning and elections throughout the week.
Next it was on to the Miss College Park Scholarship Pageant that is sponsored by Post and Unit 217. This is the 16th year of this scholarship pageant and our reigning Miss College Park, Vicki Kalesinski, will be relinquishing her title in March when the 2007 pageant will be held at Northwestern High School on March 2nd and 3rd. Vicki has been a great ambassador for this scholarship program. Well done, Vicki. Angie Rodeguez, the Executive Director of this pageant, has been responsible for more than $150,000 awarded in scholarship monies over these years. We’re proud of you, Angie.
Our congratulations go out to each and every one of the above-mentioned youth for their achievements. Now we must recognize some additional students for their scholastic and military excellence. From Northwestern High School, NJROTC excellence awards. In the category of general military excellence are Erika Valasquez, Rodney Campbell, Jr., Jorge Lopez, Diasia Owens, Jessica Ladow, Jaques Diggs, Sandra Lucero and Ian Tatiano. In the Scholastic Excellence category we find Jessica Flores-Soriano, Maurice Taylor, Karen Monroe, Angelica Deras-Penate, Paola Flores, Estefania Seminaro-Calderon, Rodrick Hart and Jennifer L. Arana-Vasquez. From the University of Maryland the Air Force ROTC awards went to Jessica L. Anthony, Adam W. Thompson, Karen E. Mostellar. Jonathan P. Goldstein, Matthew Scardaci, David A. Woddell, Leslie A. Woll, Louis A. Contreras and Sarah V. Mostellar. As our youth continue to "reach for the stars" we will continue to support their efforts for they reinforce our belief that our future is in good hands.
Another item of interest that occurred this month was the Southern Maryland "Day For God and Country" held on Saturday, Feb. 17th at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Chesapeake Beach. This is another of our annual affairs in the American Legion Auxiliary where we pause to pay tribute to our military, those who have gone before and those now serving our country. A reception was held at Post 206 following the service. Another annual tribute was the "Salute to Hospitalized Veterans" held throughout the United States. I am usually at Washington VAMC for this program that is near and dear to my heart; however, this year I was "iced in" and could not leave my home. I heard the program was terrific this year. And lastly, oan Feb. 17th there was a joyful ‘sweethearts" dance held in the Post home. The room was filled to capacity, the decor was lovely, there were many door prizes and one tremendous "act of kindness" that must be mentioned. The main door prize, an overnight stay with breakfast included at the Holiday Inn in College Park, was donated by the hotel for this function, along with a basket containing champagne, flutes, candies, and other goodies. Joe Raphel, Post 217 finance officer, won the prize and then presented it to a young couple who plan to marry at the end of March. Way to go, Joe. A committee of several Post members put on this function and the bartender, C.J. Nanny, was responsible for the door prizes and decorations. Glen headed up the tickets and flyers, and Bruce laid out a great spread. There are many others who came together to make this dance successful, including the band, "No Limits."
We like to keep the community aware of what we are doing at Post and Unit 217 and invite you to join us if you are eligible to become a member of the American Legion or Auxiliary. Also, many of our functions are open to the public. If you have any questions about this, please call 301.441.2783.