Honoring local junior high and high school students, and providing scholarships for qualifying graduating seniors, are just a couple of examples of how the Sebastian Exchange Club is active in the community. Our annual fundraiser, The Blue Water Open, has raised over $600,000 in it’s history, which has been poured back into the community.
Many non-profit organizations have benefited from the profits from this event, most with an emphasis on youth, Americanism, or the prevention of child abuse, which are the cornerstones of the club. The Exchange Club of Sebastian honored September Students of the Month at their September 12th luncheon.
These students are our honorees for the month of September, 2018.
The Youth of the Month Award recognizes hard-working pre-high school and high school students who attain high levels of scholastic achievement, community involvement and leadership, and daily demonstrate good citizenship both at school and at home. Students recognized for the month of September were Madison Carlson from Sebastian Charter Junior High School, Juliet Enright from Storm Grove Middle School, Briony Weragoda from Sebastian River Middle School, and Allison Pardon and James LaBranche from Sebastian River High School.
Madison Carlson is smart, kind, honest and sincere. She excels in math and has a great support system of her mom and dad. She is president of the National Junior Honor Society and serves on the yearbook committee. She dances on the Elite team of Brooke Elise Dance Company. Madison hopes to study meteorology and possibly do some competition dancing. In closing she said, “thank you to the Exchange Club of Sebastian for giving me the opportunity to represent students in our area.”
Juliet Enright is a sweet and caring girl who loves her family, friends and all people. She plays soccer and volley ball and plans on attending Vero Beach High School. She hopes to pursue studying pharmacy or engineering. In accepting her award she thanked the Exchange Club of Sebastian and her parents and teachers and was “excited to receive her first award ever.”
Briony Weragoda is an outstanding person. She is on the SRMS Lacrosse team, in the jazz band and plays the piano. She is also a talented artist and has won 3 local art competitions. She is a mentor for Buddy Breaks that assists families of exceptional children and represents the 8thgrade as the student advocate for the school. She is a thinker and always goes above and beyond 100%. In accepting her award she said, “It is an honor to be here and I am privileged to have this opportunity.”
Allison Pardon is 6th in her class of 404 students with a 4.75 weighted GPA. She is in the IB program at SRHS and a member of the National Honor Society. She helps special needs kids learn horseback riding and is an accomplished barrel racer herself. She hopes to pursue her degree in medicine. In accepting her award she thanked her teachers, the Sebastian Exchange Club and her parents and said she wanted to specialize in surgery.
James LaBranche is ranked 10th in his class of 404 students and is also in the IB program at SRHS. He excels in math and is taking AP Calculus as an extra class. James is a very talented musician who plays the tuba, is band captain and a member of the marching sharks. James hopes to attend University of Florida. In accepting is award he thanked Sebastian Exchange Club, his parents, teachers and many others for their guidance in his accomplishments and said, “no way I could have gotten here by myself and become who I am today.”
The Exchange Club of Sebastian welcomes people interested in making the community a better place to live through service. Consider attending a luncheon meeting as a guest. They are held at Capt. Hiram’s at noon every Wednesday, except the first Wednesday of each month.
Karen McElveen
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