Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle presents a Distinguished Student of Service certificate May 14 to LAHS junior Anna Jacobson, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as her mother Eva Jacobson shares the moment with LAHS teacher Michelle Rosette, at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Linda Hull
BY VINCENT CHIRAVALLE
Rotary Club of Los Alamos
On May 14 the Rotary Club of Los Alamos presented Anna Jacobson, a Los Alamos High School junior with a Distinguished Student of Service award. Anna is indeed one who has made service part of her life and she is a very well-rounded student. Anna is the president of her 4-H club in Sandoval County and a member of Natural Helpers, LINK Crew and the school symphonic orchestra. She is also a student council volunteer, a 4-H community service volunteer, and a teen court volunteer, as well as a library events and program support volunteer. In addition to these activities Anna is a member of the Santa Fe youth symphony, and a 2-time NMMEA Orchestra All-State participant. She is a private base teacher and also a livestock competitor with championships in poultry, rabbit, and market swine.
In her essay Anna shared with the Club one of the challenges facing today’s youth; namely having sufficient resources for education. Anna talked about her participation, as president of her 4-H club, in this year’s 4-H senior leadership retreat, a statewide training for club leaders. Participants were asked to bring school supplies such as notebooks, tissues, and writing utensils. Anna spent hours along with the other participants packaging supplies brought from across the state, which were subsequently delivered to schools in each county of the state.
Anna described how this work helps students across the state as follows, “New Mexico is ranked 50th for education quality in the country, and has the third highest poverty rate. The differences in the standard of living and educational opportunities between Los Alamos, and my 4-H club in the Jemez mountains are too great to ignore. My younger club members grow up in a valley where the signs of poverty are everywhere. One of the most effective forms of community service is providing schools with supplies that can lessen the burden of teachers and give students what they need to succeed.”
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Anna for her service to the youth in Los Alamos and New Mexico.
When receiving the award Anna was joined by her mother Eva Jacobson, and LAHS teacher Michelle Rosette, who nominated her for the award.