Rotary Honors Middle School Students

By Tanjua Damon

The Newtown Rotary Club honored three students from the Newtown Middle School for excellence Monday evening at the Fireside Inn.

Each month the Rotary Club will be honoring middle school students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade for their good work in school and in their community, Rotary Club President Scott Senete said.

“We want to promote kids,” he said. “Encourage our students toward excellence.”

Teachers at the middle school will help select the students who will be honored every month. Students are separated into clusters at the school and one student from each grade will be chosen and then honored by the Rotarians.

“We’re trying to get a good cross section of the students during the school year,” Mr Senete said. “With the clusters we get a good cross section this way.”

The first three students were honored on Monday. All of them have worked hard to serve their communities, according to Rotarian and Middle School Assistant Principal Tony Salvatore, who presented the certificates to the outstanding students.

“How easy it was for our teachers to pick out quality students,” Mr Salvatore said. “One from each cluster. Once their color came back to them, I told them it was a good thing.”

Sixth grader Logan Allison was honored for work at the Pegasus Therapeutic Riding program for disabled children. Logan donates her time at the program, Mr Salvatore said.

Katie Winkler, a seventh grader, was honored for her diligence to learn sign language. Mr Salvatore said she should be fluent in sign language within the next four years.

Eighth grader Kaltrina Sedaliu was described by her cluster teachers as very helpful, according to Mr Salvatore. She has a sixth sense for doing things before she is even asked. Kaltrina worked on beautifying the school, works on the Youth Advisory Board, and spends time with the elderly.