Andrew Watson has been selected as a Distinguished Student of Service by the Rotary Club of Los Alamos. Courtesy photo
ROTARY NEWS
The Motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. To support this, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos honors “Distinguished Students of Service” in their junior year of high school each academic year. Students are first nominated by their teachers who are asked to select those who:
- have given positive contributions to their high school and/or in the community,
- have a good attitude toward learning,
- are good citizens, are respectful of their peers and teachers,
- and have good grades, attendance, and classroom participation.
The Club then selects students based on demonstrated spirit of service and exemplification of the Rotary 4-Way Test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos recently selected Andrew Watson as a Distinguished Student of Service. Watson has made service part of his life and is also a well-rounded student. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Math Society, as well as the Hilltalkers Speech and Debate Team and Key Club, where he has participated in more than 100 hours of community service and as a District board member. Watson also volunteers at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Mesa Public Library, and on the ski patrol. As a student athlete, he competes on the varsity swim team.
In a Rotary essay, Watson shared one of the challenges facing today’s youth: the need to expand peer tutoring at the high school level in order to help students who are struggling with math. Describing his experience as a math tutor and math department intern, he wrote, “The peer tutoring program is especially unique because it allows students to learn from fellow students, creating a less judgmental, more open relationship than a student- teacher relationship. As a peer tutor, I enjoyed not only helping students with their math, but getting to know them as people and as friends. I think that the peer tutoring program is one of the most important initiatives at the high school. I would love to see more students being encouraged to be peer tutors, as well as peer tutoring in subjects other than math and science.”
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Watson for his service to the youth in Los Alamos.
Watson is the son of Katie Bruell and Scott Watson. He named Los Alamos High School language arts teacher Christine Engelbrecht as the teacher who has been most influential in his life.