Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle presents a Distinguished Student of Service certificate to Los Alamos High School (LAHS) junior Angel Meng, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as her father Ying Meng and mother Guangye Chen share the moment with LAHS teacher Michelle Rosette, May 20, at the United Church of Los Alamos. Photo by Tacarra Lake
By VINCENT CHIRAVALLE
Rotary Club of Los Alamos
On May 20, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos presented Angel Meng, a Los Alamos High School junior, with a Distinguished Student of Service award. Angel is indeed one who has made service part of her life and is a well-rounded student. Angel is a member of the National Honor Society, and the school orchestra, as well as the speech and debate team, where she won 2nd place at 2025 State Speech and Debate competition in the HI category. Angel is also a member of the Key Club, where she is the Key Club Kiwanis Family Committee Chairperson and the Lieutenant Governor of the Sangre de Cristo Division. She is a student athlete who has participated in cross country for three years.
In addition to these activities, Angel is a concertmaster in the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Orchestra, and she is also a private violin teacher who has taught more than 10 violin students in private lessons. Angel has participated in numerous service activities both at school and in the community, including selling cotton candy at the Los Alamos summer night concerts, collecting aluminum, and volunteering for Breakfast with Santa. In addition she has volunteered for the Mountain Elementary School Halloween Carnival, Kite Festival, the Barranca Elementary School Bobcat Bonanza, Barranca Ball, Trinity on the Hill, Eco Club thrift shop, and the Hilltopper 5K run.
In her essay, Angel shared with the Club one of the challenges facing today’s youth; namely children and families affected by abuse and violence in New Mexico. In her essay she described working with students as a violin teacher and her involvement in service activities through the Key Club.
Angel explained how these experiences have helped her serve young people as follows, “One of the most memorable service events I participated in was Breakfast with Santa, where I helped serve food, pack goodie bags, and clean up. Seeing how something as simple as that could bring joy to children during the holidays made me want to do more. This experience helped motivate me to run for Lieutenant Governor of our Key Club division, where I hope to focus on developing a fundraising project to support children and families affected by abuse and violence in New Mexico. The goal is to raise money for emergency kits and also raise awareness by encouraging students to learn about the signs of abuse and how to seek help. In the future I want to continue supporting youth through both music and leadership. I hope to stay involved in efforts that create a safe, more supportive environment for young people.”
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Angel for her service to the youth in Los Alamos.
When receiving the award, Angel was joined by her father Ying Meng and mother Guangye Chen and LAHS teacher Michelle Rosette, who nominated her for the award. Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle conducted the award ceremony.
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?