Optimists present Youth Appreciation Awards

TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Five local sixth-graders were honored Thursday with Youth Appreciation Awards presented by the Maryville Optimist Club. They are, from left, Elisa Hernandez, Carson Kempf, Maggie Graham, Trey Stooksbury, and Dakotah Haughey.

The Maryville Optimist club presented its annual Youth Appreciation Awards to five local sixth graders during a Thursday breakfast meeting at the Maryville Holiday Inn Express.

This year’s honorees are Elisa Hernandez and Trey Stooksbury of Maryville Middle School, nominated by teacher Amy Wolf; Maggie Graham and Carson Kempf of St. Gregory’s School, nominated by teacher Becky Nielson; and Dakotah Haughey of Horace Mann Laboratory School, nominated by teacher Sarah Winans.

Each of the students received gift cards for Wal-Mart and The Hangar cinemaplex along with framed certificates and copies of the Optimist Creed, which urges members of the service organization “to give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others; to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.”

Local Optimist Youth Appreciation Week chair Lois Terhune said award criteria consists of “having an optimistic attitude, making contributions in the classroom, and making good use of one’s talents.”

During the breakfast, each of the students was introduced by an Optimist sponsor and then, in turn, their families were introduced.

Each winner also gave a brief statement describing their favorite school subjects, hobbies, and activities.

Hernandez enjoys science and mathematics and plays volleyball; Stooksbury likes math, social studies, and science and is a football and baseball fan.

Graham said her favorite school subject is English, and her favorite sports are softball and volleyball; Kempf, also likes social studies and math and, when not at school, studies piano, swims, and plays baseball and basketball.

Haughey said her favorite subject is art.

Maryville Public Safety Sgt. Rick Smail presented the awards, and noted that he had worked with all five recipients through the Maryville Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, of which he is the longtime coordinator.

Smail and Maryville R-II Superintendent Becky Albrecht, who also attended the breakfast, both serve as Youth Appreciation Week co-chairs.