NYFS 2012 Award Recipients

Newtown Youth & Family Services (NYFS) held its annual awards and recognition ceremony at C.H. Booth Library on June 25. During the ceremony, multiple awards and acknowledgements were given out.

The H.D. Bassett Award was given to Jeff Dymerski of Newtown’s Dunkin’ Donuts for sponsoring many events throughout the year.

The Outstanding Youth Award was given to Newtown High School 2012 graduate Erin Begg, who was nominated by her peers and coaches as captain for both the varsity cross country and varsity track and field teams at NHS. In addition to the many races she ran each month, she participated in the USA Triathlon, and became the New England Champion. Erin has also volunteered coaching the St Rose of Lima track and field team for the past four years. Erin has also volunteered every Thursday for the past year as an EMT at Newtown Ambulance. Erin was also is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. Erin plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and was accepted as a Franklin Scholar.

The Gail Smith Awards recognizes both an adult and youth each year, and this year Karly Oliveira, who has volunteered as a tutor at the NYFS Homework Club for four years, and Layne Lescault, a NYFS board member, received the award. As well as tutoring and spending her time at Homework Club, Karly also volunteers for various organizations. Karly was also involved in the Newtown Police Department’s Student Police Academy, where she was educated on becoming a police officer, K9 narcotic investigation, crime scene investigation, DWI/DUI, and juvenile law. Karly plans to attend Western Connecticut State University in the fall.

Ms Lescault began with NYFS in 2001 as an active member of the Holiday Festival committee. Ms Lescault, according to NYFS, has been instrumental in expanding the Holiday Festival since 2001, and she has been an active board chairman and board secretary. After years of dedication and service, Ms Lescault will be lending her talents to the other organizations that she is passionate about: Newtown Woman’s Club, The Animal Center, WIN, Newcomers, and the Newtown Fund, according to NYFS.

Kaitlyn Johnson received the Employee Appreciation Award for her drive, team work, and positive attitude, according to NYFS. Ms Johnson was recruited during the fall of 2010 as an office assistant; however with her experience and ambition she blossomed into a full-time community coordinator and oversees the Partnership for Success grant (underage drinking prevention initiatives) and countless other programs/special events. She was recently selected to attend the prestigious New England Institute of Addiction and Prevention Studies conference.