Rotarian Vincent Chiravalle presents a Distinguished Student of Service certificate to LAHS junior Claire Whitley, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as her mother Laura Whitley shares the moment with LAHS nominating teacher Louise Foliot, April 23, at Cottonwood on the Greens. Photo by Oliver Morris
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 April 23 the Rotary Club of Los Alamos presented Claire Whitley, a Los Alamos High School junior with a Distinguished Student of Service award. Claire is indeed one who has made service part of her life and she is a very well-rounded student. Claire is a member of the National Honor Society, the Knitting Club, and Biblical Burritos. She is also a student athlete who competes on the Cross Country team and the Track and Field team.
In addition to these activities, Claire has volunteered for numerous service activities both at school and in the community. She was a Y Earth Services (YES) Corps volunteer in 2021, a Course Marshall for the Hilltopper 5K race in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and a volunteer for the Bill Hudson Swim meet in 2022 and 2023. She was also a volunteer at the Class of 2027 Freshman Orientation and the Aspen Elementary Spring Fling in 2023. Claire is a Bethlehem Evangelical Luthern Church Youth Representative.
In her essay Claire shared with the Club one of the challenges facing today’s youth; namely stress and anxiety brought about by the increase in screen time and decrease in social time due to the COVID pandemic. Claire talked about how outdoor activities can help relieve stress and anxiety. In her essay Claire mentioned how she volunteered in 2021 for the Y Earth Services (YES) Corps program for trail maintenance. As part of this program students engage in activities such as building water drainages and correcting erosion on the trail, building steps, and pruning trees and bushes to clear overhanging branches, making the trail safer and easier to access.
Claire described her experience in the YES Corp program as follows, “Among the trails that I helped to restore using these techniques are the Pueblo and Eastern Canyon Rim trail, Mitchel trail, and Quemazon trail. We also had a trash cleanup day in Bayo canyon, which ensured the sanitation and helped create a pleasant experience for those who want to go outdoors. I enjoyed this volunteer experience with the YMCA because I really liked being outside and seeing the changes I was making. Being raised in Los Alamos there are such high academic expectations and competition, such as AP classes and standardized testing, which really stresses and overwhelms many young people. Outdoor activities such as hiking, running, or bicycling on trails helps combat this anxiety and stress, and promotes mental health. The trail system is a big part of recreational activity in Los Alamos.”
The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Claire for her service to the youth in Los Alamos.
When receiving the award Claire was joined by her mother Laura Whitley and LAHS teacher Louise Foliot, who nominated her for the award.
