Rotary Names Seven Students Of The Month

The Newtown Rotary Club recently recognized Newtown’s outstanding students for the month of January. The award recognizes those students who have distinguished themselves through their significant efforts related to community service, citizenship, resiliency, positive attitude, and self-directed learning. Rotarian and Reed Intermediate School Assistant Principal Anthony Salvatore first recognized the following outstanding students from the Reed School and Newtown Middle School.

Lane Kummer is the fifth grade Rotary Student of the Month from Reed. He lives in Newtown with his parents; he also has a brother who lives in Pennsylvania. Lane is very proud of his brother and speaks with great joy about the times they have visited with each other. At school, Lane enjoys reading and has been known to whip through several books in one week. Photography, chatting with friends, and caring for animals are activities he chooses in his spare time.

A recent presentation given by Karen King, a teacher at Reed, about her experiences in Africa last summer prompted Lane to take action. Ms King spoke of a displaced people struggling to survive. Lane’s reaction was to set about raising money for the cause. Lane and two of his closest friends, Hannah and Rachel, started going door-to-door explaining to their friends and neighbors the plight of people so far away. In total they raised $275 for the effort.

Ryanne Duffy is the sixth grade Rotary Student of the Month from Reed. Ryanne is a good friend to her classmates and a student that any teacher would love to have in the classroom. What sets her apart are her maturity, self-motivation, and her instinctive helpfulness to those around her.

Ryanne is a steady A student. She puts forth her best effort every day in every class, not because the teacher reminds her to do so, but because she sets such a high standard for herself in every area of her life. Her teachers state that they almost never notice that Ryanne is going above and beyond, because it is so routine for her that it often goes unnoticed.

Ryanne volunteers regularly with a special needs student at Reed, and has spent some of her Saturdays helping to make sandwiches and set tables at the Dorothy Day Hospitality House in Danbury.

Ryanne has also been involved in cheerleading for Newtown Football for two years, loves reading, and has been skiing since age 4. She is a member of Reed Ski Club and Reed Walking Club, and a Reed Library helper. She is a friend and role model to her classmates, a wonderful daughter, a caring member of the Newtown community and a treasure to her entire family.

Courtney Yapp is the seventh grade Rotary Student of the Month from Newtown Middle School. She is an honor roll student in the Purple Cluster.

Her teachers comment: “Courtney is a model student and citizen. From her work ethic to her empathy for others, she always goes above and beyond. Academically, Courtney maintains A’s in all her classes. As a model citizen should, Courtney possesses a vast awareness of the world and its cultures. She recently won the cluster geography bee and placed third in the National Geographic schoolwide contest.

“Courtney also sparked a cluster recycling initiative by collecting empty water bottles, which are then recycled at the end of the week. With students like Courtney as custodians of our planet, we are confident the world is in good hands,” her teachers concluded.

Courtney’s favorite activity is dance. For the past seven years she has taken lessons in tap, jazz, and modern dance, in addition to two ballet classes. Along with her dance company, she will soon be participating in a competition titled “Jump!” Through her church this summer she will attend Walnut Hill Music Camp. It is no surprise to learn that in the future, Courtney would like to become a choreographer.

Michael Mossbarger is the eighth grade Rotary Student of the Month from Newtown Middle School. Michael is an honor roll student from Cluster Purple. He lives in Newtown with his parents, Mike and Jill, brother Matt, a sixth grader at RIS, and sister Katie, a student at Sandy Hook Elementary.

His teachers state: “Though he has moved five times, Mike easily adapts to new students because of his outgoing personality and ability to get along well with all his classmates. As a student, Mike helps set high expectations in the cluster. His work quality shows efforts above expectations due to his conscientiousness.”

Michael had the honor of being elected the president of Student Council this year. At school, Mike is a member of the band where he plays the drums. Outside of school, he enjoys playing travel soccer and basketball with Park and Rec.

In his spare time, Mike loves to play the drums and to be with his friends. He and his family look forward to their annual summertime trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

In the future, Michael would like to become a doctor or dentist.

Rebecca Reed is the Student of the Month from Newtown High School. She is a senior and is a Latin 4 Honors student who is studying on an independent level. She scored a perfect paper as a freshman for the National Latin Exam Level One. She has scored at the gold medal level for the past two national exams.

Rebecca was inducted into the National Latin Honor Society last spring. In addition, she also studied French up to the fourth year. She has participated in the statewide poetry contest in French.

Finally, she has a challenging class load, with science being her strength.