It is with great pride that The Exchange Club of Sebastian presents the Students of the Month for March: Rachel Disisto from Sebastian Charter Junior High School, Lilyana Wilsnack from Sebastian River Middle School, and Taylor Sturgeon and Adam Chester from Sebastian River High School.
Sebastian Exchange Club’s Young Citizenship Award honors pre-high school students who daily demonstrate good citizenship both at school and at home This program is designed to recognize and encourage youngsters who are honest, hard-working, helpful and fair. In practice, the Young Citizenship Award provides classroom teachers with an effective tool to further motivate promising students. It also provides Sebastian Exchange Club with an enjoyable opportunity to supply the encouragement that can be so vitally important in shaping the characters of youngsters at an impressionable time in their lives.
Rachel Disisto has a kind spirit and positive attitude. She is a strong, self-advocating student who is quickly becoming someone at the top of her game. She is confident in herself and caring of others. Rachel leads with compassion and kindness. With determination and perseverance, Rachel not only strives for excellence in her academics and extracurricular activities, but also demonstrates the ability to encourage and assist those around her. She had an amazing Science Fair project this year and won several awards at the Indian River Regional Science Fair. She is an ambassador and works with students in another class to complete science labs and understand the science behind them. Rachel is an amazing young woman with a phenomenal future. She’s intelligent, hardworking, responsive to others, and embraces all six of the Character Pillars taught here at Sebastian Charter Junior High School.
Lilyana Wilsnack is a very mature, highly cooperative and hard working student both inside and outside of the classroom. Her academic performance stands within the top three percent of Sebastian River Middle School’s 8th grade class. Lilyana is a great role model and has shown a remarkable willingness to participate and lead other students to perform better. Based on her remarkable performance during the Indian River Regional Science & Engineering Fair her science fair project was selected to participate in the Florida State Science & Engineering Fair. She always strives to do her best and be her best. She is driven, compassionate, a leader as well as a team player. She is mature and well balanced. Lilly is not afraid to ask challenging questions, yet she communicates them in a positive and empathetic way. She is a student who truly values education and learning. She carries herself with a demeanor of wanting to learn. Lilyana has been working incredibly hard this year to maintain an “A” average in all of her classes. Her strong character is a model for her peers and others around her.
The Youth of the Month Award recognizes hard-working high school students who attain high levels of scholastic achievement, community involvement and leadership. This proven program not only rewards outstanding young people, but also provides an incentive for other youngsters to strive for equally high levels of achievement.
Taylor Sturgeon is an IB Diploma Candidate with a weighted GPA of 4.391 and ranked 26th in her class. She is a member of the National Honor Society and Senior Class Secretary, Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook and has played on Varsity Golf and Tennis teams as well as Lacrosse JV team and band. She organized the Chick-Fil-A Leadership Academy Color Run to benefit the March of Dimes, is a Peer mentor for Fellsmere Elementary students, and raised approximately $1,500 collecting pop-tops for Ronald McDonald House. Taylor works at Chick-fil-A. Although accepted to several colleges, she plans to attend the University of North Florida and study marketing. In accepting her award Taylor thanked the Sebastian Exchange Club, her teachers as well as all of her peers for motivating her to strive for her best, saying, “I am truly honored.”
Adam Chester is an IB Diploma Candidate with a weighted GPA of 4.386 and class rank of 27th. He is a member and former officer of the National Honor Society and Future Business Leaders of America. Adam is a member of the Sebastian River High School Band, Pride Competition Band, Section Leader of Saxophones, Band Lieutenant and Executive Leader of the band. He is a varsity starter all 4 years of the SRHS Tennis team, and Treasurer of the SRHS Excel Club. He volunteers for Nathaniel’s Hope Buddy Break for special needs children and at the Environment Learning Center as a summer camp counselor. He has volunteered with Keep Indian River Beautiful beach cleanup since 2014 and has volunteered more than 350 hours of other community service. Adam works as a Front Service Clerk at Publix and his hobbies are sports, music and travel. Although accepted to several colleges Adam plans to attend the University of North Florida and study clinical science. In accepting his award he thanked the Sebastian Exchange Club, his parents and teachers for their support.
The Student of the Month program is but one of the many community activities sponsored by The Exchange Club of Sebastian. They also award scholarships to graduating seniors, provide food and supplies to the Roseland Food Pantry, provide holiday gifts for the children served by Guardians for New Futures, donate to Nana’s House, collect supplies for Chum Bucket at Sebastian River High School, provide support for veteran and military organizations, and much, much more. The Sebastian Exchange Club has one major fundraiser a year,
The Blue Water Open Charity Offshore Fishing Tournament, to be held on June 3-4. 2022. Proceeds from this event allow the club to support its Pillars of Service: The Prevention of Child Abuse, Youth Activities, Americanism, and Community Involvement. Visit them at a luncheon meeting any Wednesday, except the first Wednesday of each month, at noon at Capt. Hiram’s Resort. Guests are always welcome.