April 25, 2002
Contact: Adrianne
Tucker
802-443-5629
satucker@middlebury.edu
Posted: April 24, 2002
17” height=”144” alt=”Public Service Leadership Awards”>MIDDLEBURY,
VT -
More than 40 Middlebury College students received citations of commendation
for volunteer work in the Addison County community at the College’s
annual Public Service Leadership Award dinner held during National Volunteer
Week, on Tuesday, April 23. Of the students who received the certificates
of merit, six received the 2002 Public Service Leadership Award. Another
student received the Alma Gibbs Donchian Literacy Award.
The seven award-winning
students will each choose a nonprofit organization to receive a $300
donation, made by the College on each student’s behalf. Donations on
behalf of the students will amount to a total of $2,100.
It is estimated that more
than half of the College’s students have been engaged in community service
projects or service-related initiatives this year. More than 500 students
are involved in ongoing projects, providing a minimum of two hours per
week for dozens of agencies and individuals, amounting to more than
28,000 hours of student volunteer effort per academic year-the equivalent
of nearly 20 people working for the needs of the community full-time,
year-round.
Award recipients were
junior Michael Azzara, of Lawrenceville, N.J., for volunteer
services on the College campus and also with the not-for-profit organization
called Operation Smile; senior Susan Carter, of Moreland Hills,
Ohio, for her service with the Addison County Community Friends program;
senior Scott Faucett, of Middlebury, Vt., for his volunteerism
with Addison County Paramedic Response, Inc., the Middlebury Volunteer
Ambulance Association, the Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy
Program, and the Porter Medical Center; senior Grayson Fertig,
of Oxford, Conn., for his volunteer activities on the Middlebury College
campus and also for his work on behalf of the Foundation for Excellent
Schools mentoring program at Bridport Central School; senior Anne
Lionberger, of Evanston, Ill., for her volunteer work with the Addison
County Community Friends program, the Helen Porter Health Care and Rehabilitation
Center, and, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Amigos de las Américas and the Puente
a la Salud Comunitaria; and sophomore Matthew Wolf, of Weston,
Mass., for his work with the Foundation for Excellent Schools mentoring
program, and, in Lowell, Mass., with the Cambodian Mutual Assistance
Association of Greater Lowell, Inc., and the Future Stars Sports and
Leadership Development Summer Camp.
The recipient of the Donchian
Literacy Award is Timothy Brownell, of Ridgewood, N.J., for his
efforts on behalf of several area schools and programs through Middlebury
College’s Page 1 Literacy Project and the Foundation for Excellent
Schools mentoring program.
At the dinner, Acting
President Ron Liebowitz told honorees that the public service aspect
of student life ranks among the most noteworthy achievements. He said,
“You join a lengthening line of Middlebury students embodying the values
of volunteer service, a tradition that is one of the most respected
on campus. Through your efforts, the lives of people throughout the
broad community in which we live are improved.”
Keynote speaker for the
dinner was Middlebury College senior Anne Lionberger, who was also an
award recipient.
The award-winning students
selected the following nonprofit organizations to receive their donations:
Addison County Community Friends; Addison County Paramedic Response,
Inc.; the Aurora School, in Middlebury; “Bridge to Community Health,”
in Oaxaca, Mexico; the John Williams Ward Public Service Fellowship
for students at the Boston Latin School, in Boston; the Middlebury College
Katie Samson Fund; the Middlebury College chapter of Operation Smile
and the Travis Roy Foundation, in Boston.
Each year in February
or March, the call for nominations goes out to the community to begin
the selection process for the award. Decisions are based upon students’
demonstrated dedication to a cause, level of help toward making a positive
change for an individual or for the community, and initiative toward
increasing the awareness and involvement of other Middlebury College
students in public service. Each nomination was returned to the College’s
service learning office and reviewed by a committee of College students,
faculty, and staff.
NOTE: A more detailed
description of each of the seven award recipients’ volunteer service
endeavors follows, excerpted from the award speech. Also attached is
a list of all 40 nominees, and the organizations for which they served.
Middlebury College
Public Service Leadership Award Bio Sketches and Nominee List/Page 1
2002 Middlebury
College Public Service Leadership Award Recipients
April 23, 2002
Michael C. Azzara,
Class of 2003
Mikey, an active member
of the environmentally focused Weybridge House, has also served for
two years as president of Middlebury’s chapter of Operation Smile, a
not-for-profit offering free medical attention to children around the
world suffering from facial deformities. He began volunteering with
the organization in high school, and has since served on its national
advisory council for clubs throughout the country. He traveled on an
Operation Smile medical mission to the Philippines with a team of other
volunteers, surgeons, doctors and nurses, interacting with families
and helping to teach dental hygiene, nutrition and burn prevention.
At Middlebury, Mikey has worked with the College’s Operation Smile chapter
since day one. As membership director, he increased student participation,
and recently organized a week-long Operation Smile symposium on campus
titled “Global Human Health: Perspectives and Possibilities,” and spoke
on one of the panels about his volunteer experiences. Mikey also volunteers
as the food buyer for Weybridge House, co-chair for the Class of 2005
February orientation, and co-founder-with Grayson Fertig-of the Blue
Mitt Biking Society to encourage bike-riding as an alternative to car
travel.
Susan B. Carter,
Class of 2002
Working with the Addison
County Community Friends program, Susie has offered exemplary service
as a mentor and companion for an 11-year-old girl in our local community.
From the time that she first began volunteering, during her sophomore
year, Susie has dedicated two hours of her busy schedule each week to
meet with her “little sister” companion, who struggles to cope with
the hardships of Down Syndrome coupled with an anxiety disorder. Susie
has provided entertainment, guidance and patient company through some
very challenging times in the young girl’s life, compassionately dealing
with even a little hair-pulling in order to keep their relationship
upbeat through countless board games and games of toss and catch. Susie’s
steady influence has helped bring this individual to a more comfortable
acceptance of others. According to the young girl’s grateful parent,
Susie is the kind of individual who will put the needs of others before
her own. Even during a semester abroad, Susie kept in constant touch
to continue to forge an invaluable bond of trust and friendship, which
she yet maintains during a very busy final semester at Middlebury before
her graduation in May.
Scott C. Faucett,
Class of 2002
In addition to raising
more than $1,000 for the Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy Project
two years in a row, Scott provides a prodigious amount of volunteer
service to the Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association and the Porter
Medical Center. Starting out with the MVAA as an emergency medical
technician with basic training, Scott added to his pre-med schedule
by increasing his EMT training to the intermediate level. Promoted
to crew chief for the squad, he sat on the membership committee, and
was subsequently elected to the board of directors. He was promoted
to heavy rescue chief six months ago. A key planner for four district-wide
disaster drills, Scott is now working with the MVAA operations manager
to create a new nonprofit called Addison County Paramedic Response,
Inc., which will provide pre-hospital paramedic care for all Addison
County rescue squads. He assisted in the possession of a new ambulance
last fall, and also in the design of a new heavy rescue truck to be
delivered this summer. Scott has volunteered with the Porter Medical
Center quality improvement department, abstracting data from medical
charts for quality studies and helping to plan the center’s annual mock
disaster drill. Scott undertakes all these activities while maintaining
a monthly average of 96 hours on call for rescue, and has helped save
more than one life.
Grayson M. Fertig,
Class of 2002
Grayson has served as
the Foundation for Excellent Schools mentoring coordinator at the Bridport
School since 1999. As co-captain of the Panther men’s hockey team,
his first comments addressed the importance of volunteerism and announced
his expectation that the team be involved in mentoring, also. As a
result, each player now works with a local school student. Grayson
also works with his team to fundraise for various entities in the community.
Inspired by a service learning project, he arranged to donate proceeds
of a hockey 50-50 raffle to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He and
his team participated in a community bike ride in support of less fortunate
Addison County families, and a 5K run to help fund Fucile Field for
local lacrosse teams. Grayson talks to students at schools across the
state about goal setting and possessing their dreams. According to
an observer, students come away from his talks greatly encouraged, feeling
empowered by the importance of their roles in the wider world. His
work as an individual mentor provides a positive role model for a local
student, helping his transition from Bridport School to Middlebury Union
High School. Grayson’s environmental awareness also motivates his volunteerism-he
is co-founder with Mike Azzara of the Blue Mitt Bike Society, designed
to help preserve fossil fuels.
Anne B. Lionberger,
Class of 2002
In addition to serving
the local community through the Addison County Community Friends program
and the Helen Porter Health and Rehabilitation Center, Anne has volunteered
extensively elsewhere in the United States and Mexico. Her focus the
promotion of social justice through public health, she began her first
volunteer efforts in 1997 with the Houston-based Amigos de las Américas,
a program that offers high school and college students the opportunity
to participate in public health service efforts in Latin America. Anne
traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, for AMIGOS, and shared the results of her
study of folic acid with Oaxacan health officials. She was asked to
return to Mexico to continue her research, and to initiate an educational
program on the importance of folic acid toward women’s health. As a
result, Anne, working with a colleague, founded an organization called
Puente a la Salud Comunitaria-or, Bridge to Community Health-to foster
specific development and gender equality by promoting the empowerment
of Oaxacan women to act as local health activists through health education
and networking individuals with other local health organizations. This
upcoming summer, Anne plans to return to Oaxaca to increase the scope
of her programs, and has hired three additional staff members to assist
the endeavor.
Matthew M. Wolf,
Class of 2004
The mayor and chief of
police of Lowell, Massachusetts, claim that Matt’s volunteerism in the
Greater Lowell area has significantly changed the street scene since
1998, when Matt founded the Future Stars Sports and Leadership Development
Summer Camp. That year, the murder of a boy moved Matt to seek out
the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association and a basketball coach to
address violent gang rivalry between Cambodian and Latino youth. Since
his founding of the resultant Future Stars in 1998-a program he designed
to build teamwork, self-esteem and communication skills, with conflict
resolution, increased school attendance and re-enrollment its primary
aim-no gang-related deaths have occurred. The Boston Globe states in
an August 2001 article about the camp, “Thanks in part to programs such
as Future Stars, Lowell’s juvenile arrests have dropped steadily.”
Matt is involved year-round fundraising and planning the curriculum
for the camp, which operates from June to August. He took the leading
role in raising more than $50,000 last year, and has worked with such
organizations as the Red Auerbach Youth Foundation, the Harvard Pilgrim
Health Care Foundation, the New England Patriots and the mayor of Lowell
toward this year’s $60,000 goal. In addition, each summer he oversees
the camp’s daily activities and trains camp counselors. Here, Matt
is a Foundation for Excellent Schools mentor and served as point man
in the Panther football team’s participation this fall in a new program
called the Ticonderoga-Moriah Challenge. This program used friendly
competition between two rival schools to improve academic performance
and increase participation in community service amongst the students.
2002 ALMA GIBBS
DONCHIAN LITERACY AWARD RECIPIENT
April 23, 2002
Timothy S. Brownell,
Class of 2002
Tim has promoted literacy
awareness on campus, and provided direct service in the community beyond,
with dedication and inspiring originality. He has served as a Foundation
for Excellent Schools head mentor at the Hannaford Career Center and
the Whiting Village School. He participates in many Middlebury College
Page 1 Literacy events for school children, and provides ongoing
service for such programs as Write On, a club for young authors at Mary
Hogan School. A student leader as well as a volunteer, Tim has created
new Page 1 programs, and recruits volunteers to help implement
them-Middle Ground Theater, for one, is a summer and fall program for
which he writes original plays, enlisting fellow students to also serve
as directors and writers, for dozens of area children. Tim is volunteering,
too, at the Aurora School in Middlebury, teaching theater and directing
the children in their own original play. The school director particularly
attributes the educational advances of two students with learning disabilities
to Tim’s influence. Additionally, he oversees a theater partnership
between Middlebury College and Benson Village School, Orwell Village
School, and Bridgewater Village School, which brings theater to youngsters
in rural areas who may not have the opportunity to travel to programs
offered in bigger towns.
Complete
List of nominees and organizations served:
For
her work with Addison County Community Friends, Susan B. Carter,
Class of 2002
For
his work with Addison County Community Friends, for his work with the
Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy Project, and for his work
with the Middlebury College Volunteer Services Organization, Joshua
A. Harper, Class of 2004
For
her work with Addison County Community Friends, for her work with the
Middlebury College Volunteer Preview and Volunteer Services Organization,
and for her work with the Orphanage Outreach Program in the Dominican
Republic, Katie E. Ziemba, Class of 2003
For
her work with Addison County Community Friends, for her work with the
Helen Porter Health and Rehabilitation Center, and for her work in Oaxaca,
Mexico, with Amigos de las Américas and Puente a la Salud Comunitaria,
Anne M. Lionberger, Class of 2002
For
his work with Addison County Community Friends, for his work with the
Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy Program, and for his volunteer
activity in the local community, Michael T. Csaszar, Class of
2003
For
his work for Addison County Paramedic Response, Inc., for his work with
the Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy Program, for his work
with the Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association, and for his work
with the Quality Improvement Department at Porter Medical Center, Scott
C. Faucett, Class of 2002
For
her work with the Addison County Sexual Assault Response Team, and for
her work with WomenSafe, Inc., Gillian M. Finocan, Class of 2003
For
her work with the American Cancer Society on campus and in the local
community, Rebecca
A. Sherman, Class of 2003
For
his work with the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater
Lowell, Inc., in Lowell, Massachusetts, for his work with the Foundation
for Excellent Schools, and for his work with the Future Stars Sports
and Leadership Development Summer Camp, also in Lowell, Massachusetts,
Matthew M. Wolf, Class of 2004
For
their work with Elderly Services’ Project Independence Adult Day Care,
Christine
E. Gould, and Jeannette Lam, both from the Class of
2004
For
their work with the Foundation for Excellent Schools mentoring programs
at area schools, David A. Caragliano, Elizabeth C. Johnston, John
F. Kennedy, Megan E. Kumpf, Leah M. Nickelsberg, Amy R. Ruck, and
Michael V. Silberman, all seven from the Class of 2002
For
their work with the Foundation for Excellent Schools and for their leadership
and commitment to other volunteer activities on the Middlebury College
campus, Grayson
M. Fertig, and Kristie A. Gonzalez, both from the
Class of 2002
For
his work with the Foundation for Excellent Schools, for his work with
the Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy Program and other educational
initiatives for area schools, and for his work with children in area
theatre programs, Timothy S. Brownell, Class of 2002
For
her work with the Foundation for Excellent Schools, and for her work
with the MIX Outreach Program in area schools, Dena N. Simmons,
Class of 2005
For
her work with the Girl Scout Council of Vermont and the Middlebury College
Campus Girl Scouts, Jessica L. DellaPepa, Class of 2003
For
her work with Habitat for Humanity, Mary A. Houde, Class of 2003
For
her work with the Middlebury College Page 1 Literacy Project,
Amy
E. Turner, Class of 2004
For
his environmental initiatives on the Middlebury College campus and in
the greater community, Benjamin P. Brouwer, Class of 2004
For
their volunteer environmental initiatives and leadership on the Middlebury
College campus and in the greater community, and for their work with
the College’s chapter of Operation Smile, Michael C. Azzara,
and Douglas M. Dagan, both from the Class of 2003
For
her environmental initiatives on the Middlebury College campus and in
the greater community, and for her work with Spirit in Nature, Kaitlin
A. Gregg, Class of 2003
For
his initiatives on the Middlebury College campus toward an enriched
cultural community and connectivity, for his work with the Middlebury
College International Students Organization, and for his work with the
Sudanese Refugees Educational Fund, in Winooski, Vt., Yohanne
N. Kidolezi, Class of 2004
For
his work toward the Middlebury College Sailing Club and his other volunteer
activities and leadership on the Middlebury campus, Stoddart A. Pierce,
Class of 2004
For
his work with the Middlebury College orientation week program, Volunteer
Preview, Nicholas
P. Olson, Class of 2002
For
their work with the Middlebury Union Middle School mentoring program,
Meredith
E. Giersch, Class of 2004, Colin V. Morawski, Class of 2003,
and Emily S. Swan, Class of 2003
For
her work with the Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association, Andrea
S. Klayman, Class of 2003
For
her work with a member of the local community who is visually impaired,
Lila
S. Buckley, Class of 2004
For
their work with the Spirit in Nature Interfaith Path Center, Susannah
L. King, Peter Park, Sarah B. Percy, Benjamin N.
Sprague, and Dane B. Springmeyer, all five
from the Class of 2002
For
her work with WomenSafe, Inc., Elinor E. Roberts, Class of 2003