Newtown High Seniors Recognized For Their Achievements

By Tanjua Damon

As Newtown High School seniors prepare for their next journey life, many have been recognized for their community service, academics, leadership and athletic ability through numerous awards.

Scholar Athlete Award

The Scholar Athlete Award recognizes a male and female student that has the highest academic average while playing two varsity sports. Scholarship, leadership and athletic ability are also viewed. This year Stephen Ambrogio and Tracy Ravetto were named scholar athletes.

Stephen is ranked second in the class of 2001. He will be attending the University of Connecticut at Storrs in the fall. He is a member of the track and field teams. Stephen is a member of the National Honor Society, is a tutor in the Reading/Math Center and volunteers with Ashlar at the Summer Friends camp that brings children and elderly together.

“There was some pretty big competition,” Stephen said. “I was surprised they picked me.”

Tracy is ninth in the class of 2001. She will attend Boston College in the fall. She is a member of the cross country and track teams at the high school. Tracy is the president of the LEO club, secretary of the National Honor Society and plays the clarinet in the band.

“You think about everyone ahead of you that they are doing more than you are even though you’re trying your hardest,” Tracy said. “It’s nice to know the hard work paid off.”

Superintendent’s Award

The Superintendent’s Award goes to two seniors that have shown leadership, community service and scholarship that gives back to the Newtown community and the Newtown High School community. This year’s recipients are Christopher Lyddy and Deirdre Dougherty.

Chris will be attending Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island to study social work. He has completed an amazing about of community service hours throughout his four years of high school.

“I think it’s for the community service. I’ve done 680 plus hours,” he said. “Through my community service I gained an awareness of certain issues that kids are dealing with. I want to be the one they can come to and talk about their problems.”

Deirdre plans to attend Smith College and majoring in English with a minor in education. Although she is honored for receiving the Superintendent’s Award Deirdre is a bit curious as to who nominated her and why.

“I’m really curious as to who nominated me. I feel honored to have received it,” she said. “It’s kind of weird. I can’t believe I’m a senior. I don’t really think of doing actions to get awards. It’s nice to be rewarded.”

SW Conference Leadership

The South-West Conference Leadership Award was given to two Newtown High School athletes that have shown leadership both on and off the field. Lauren Bass and John Fiscella are this year’s honorees.

Lauren will be attending Cornell University to study architecture. She is a member of the field hockey, lacrosse and swimming teams while in high school.

“It feels really good. I work to meet my own personal goals,” she said. “It’s impressive that someone pays enough attention to that to recognize them with an award.”

John plans on attending Brown University to possibly study economics that could lead to a career in law later in life. He is a member of the basketball and baseball teams at the high school.

“It’s a nice honor,” he said. “I was excited when I got it. It was nice to be recognized.”

Governor’s Scholarship

One Newtown High School senior, Devin Glass, has received the Governor’s Coalition For Youths with Disabilities Scholarship for his dedication to overcoming several disabilities in his life.

Devin will be attending Berklee College of Music in Boston to major in sound recording engineering with a minor in guitar performance. He had to write an essay about how his disability affects him and how he has lived with it.

“I’m very honored. The special education department offered to help me out. They offered the opportunity to me. It was great,” Devin said. “When I found out what the odds were from what I originally thought that every school had the award. But I found out only a handful receive the award.”

An awards ceremony to honor all seniors was held on Wednesday, May 23. Look in next week’s Bee to see who the recipients are. Newtown High School will hold its 2001 graduation on Tuesday, June 19 beginning at 5 pm.