Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle presents a Distinguished Student of Service award to LAHS student Esther Gellis, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as LAHS teacher Christine Engelbrecht shares the moment, October 6, at the United Church of Los Alamos. Photo by James Wernicke.

BY VINCENT CHIRAVALLE
Rotary Club of Los Alamos

The motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. To support this motto in 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?

On October 6 the Rotary Club of Los Alamos presented Esther Gellis, a Los Alamos High School student with a Distinguished Student of Service award. Esther is indeed one who has made service part of her life and she is a very well- rounded student. Esther is a member of the Rotary Interact Club and the Gardening Club. She was also a member of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams for the past three years. Through Rotary Interact, Esther has participated in several community service projects such as Meals of Hope, Dear Elder letter project, Lucky Ducky Day, Crabfest, Mountain Elementary School’s Halloween Carnival, and food drives. Additionally she served in childcare services with Crossroads Bible Church Youth Group and she volunteers at church camp during the summers.

Esther shared with the Club one of the challenges facing today’s youth; namely children spending more time indoors and online, causing them to lose touch with the community outside of their inner circle. In her essay Esther describes her work as a counselor at the Ponderosa Christian Camp and how this helped students grow in understanding of their faith and their place in the world:

By showing the campers the kind of love, patience, and dedication I have received, I hope that they will show the same to their friends, family, school, and even those who would not or could not do the same for them. Gimmicky programs and increased funding will never have the same impact as investing in relationships. Young people need to know that they matter –that what they do or do not do impacts the people around them. This is what I hope to impress on the younger generation, both by my example and by my service.

The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Esther for her service to the youth in Los Alamos.

When receiving the award Esther was joined by LAHS teacher Christine Engelbrecht who nominated her for the award. Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle conducted the award ceremony.