LAHS junior Yeanwoo Park was recently selected as a Rotary Distinguished Student of Service. Photo by Sandy Tobin
Yeanwoo Park accepts the Distinguished Student of Service Award May 17th from Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle as his parents, Kyunghee Chae and Young-Shin Park, and LAHS music teacher, Michelle Rosette, share the moment at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Sandy Tobin
BY VINCENT CHIRAVALLE
AND LINDA HULL
Rotary Club of Los Alamos
The Motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. To support this, each academic year the Rotary Club of Los Alamos honors “Distinguished Students of Service” in their junior year of high school. 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 Yeanwoo Park as a Distinguished Student of Service.
Park is indeed one who has made service part of his life and is also a well-rounded student.
He is a member of both Natural Helpers, a peer-helping organization offering support to fellow students, and Key Club, a Kiwanis-based service organization. He is also an active volunteer for the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. In addition to a keen focus on academics, Park finds time for composing and arranging music and plays piano, cello, and balalaika. He has held leadership positions in many musical groups. Park enjoys running and hiking with friends.
In excerpts from a Rotary essay, Park shared one of the challenges facing today’s youth: namely, “the capability and willingness of students to seek support and help on their own accord.”
In a Natural Helpers retreat he learned that “our student populace faces constant struggle.” To that end, Park has helped compile and provide lists of available mental health professionals to members of Natural Helpers and close friends. He hopes “to provide every student currently attending Los Alamos High School with a comprehensive knowledge of available support and therapy services.”
Park continues, “In presenting the resources initially, I plan to create informative bits containing the contact and location information of various professionals pertinent to high school students through newsletters, emails, student newspapers, and whatever available
means deemed appropriate.” Maintaining privacy is essential for the program’s success, and “the secure feel of such services should remain firmly intact.”
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Yeanwoo Park for his service to the youth in Los Alamos.
Park is the son of Young-Shin Park and Kyunghee Chae. He named Los Alamos High School orchestra director and District music teacher Michelle Rosette as the teacher who has been most influential in his life.
Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle chairs the Distinguished Student of Service awards program.