Rotary Club President Vince Chiravalle welcomes Distinguished Student of Service Emily Holmes, a  junior at LAHS, to the April 16 Club meeting at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Linda Hull

Emily Holmes, selected by the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as a Distinguished Student of Service, accepts a certificate of recognition from Rotary Club President Vincent Chiravalle. Her parents, Rich and Nan Holmes, join in the congratulations along with Louise Foliot, the LAHS French teacher who nominated Holmes for the award. Photo by Linda Hull

The motto of Rotary is Service above Self. To support this, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos honors nine 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
• 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.

The Rotary Club was pleased to welcome Emily Holmes as a Distinguished Student of Service during our April 16 meeting. Holmes is indeed one who has made service part of her life and is also a well-rounded student.

Holmes is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, Natural Helpers, the Los Alamos High School Speech and Debate team and the French Club. Competing on the Speech and Debate team, Holmes was state champion in Duo Interpretation and has qualified for the National Speech and Debate tournament for the past two years.

Holmes has also taken on a critical leadership role in student government, where she serves as class president. She is involved in numerous volunteer activities, including tutoring students after school in English, Math and Science and volunteering weekly at her church’s Religious Education Office where she helps elementary students and plans biweekly events for high school students. She also is an active member of Key Club where she is working toward 30 hours of community service this year.

In addition to her activities in Los Alamos, Holmes served as a United States Senate Page in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 2018, supporting proceedings on the Senate floor, caucus meetings and miscellaneous Senate activities.

Holmes shared with us one of the challenges facing today’s youth; namely peer pressure leading to drug usage, depression and anxiety. She writes, “By showing students that they have options other than the negative behaviors their friends might be urging, volunteering helps younger students avoid peer pressure. By putting in time with younger students, we are able to help them learn positive character traits of self-confidence and responsibility that will help them be more resilient to peer pressure.”

In addition to volunteering at her church and with Key Club and Natural Helpers, Holmes helped plan the Girls Discovery Workshop where she hosted a class for younger students. Holmes described the goals of her class as teaching students how to cope with the problems they face, see their true potential, and become the best they can be while avoiding the traps of peer pressure.

Holmes is the daughter of Nan and Rich Holmes and was nominated by Louise Foliot, French teacher at Los Alamos High School.

The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Holmes on her service to the youth and community of Los Alamos.