Photo provided The DAR Good Citizen winners from area high schools are Kenzie Pendleton, left-right, Nadia Harris, Isabella Kilps and Savannah Shreve.
Four area high school seniors have received Good Citizen Awards from the Joseph Hart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and the Columbus North High School winner will represent the chapter at the state level of the competition.
Kenzie Pendleton of Columbus North has been selected as the Columbus-based chapter’s entrant for the Good Citizen competition. The other three school winners were Nadia Harris (Columbus East), Savannah Shreve (CSA New Tech) and Isabella Kilps (Hauser).
According to Barb Hull, regent of the local DAR chapter, the four seniors were nominated by teachers at their respective schools for being examples of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism — “the embodiment of what DAR stands for.”
The four school winners each received an honorarium check, a DAR Good Citizen certificate and pin, and a red, white and blue graduation cord with a DAR charm.
Pendleton got an additional amount in her honorarium for being the chapter representative, said Taffy Schroer, chairman of the Good Citizen Award. She also has the chance to receive an additional honorarium at the state level and potentially advance to the national level.
To qualify for the honor of being the chapter representative, the four students had to write an essay in a monitored environment with a time limit and no access to outside resources. The essay had to be based on a specific topic, which was placed in a sealed envelope and then handed to the student.
This year’s prompt was: “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It: What are the responsibilities of a good citizen and why are these duties, activities and behaviors important to shaping the America you hope to experience?”
The four students were honored at a recent meeting of the local chapter, with Pendleton reading her essay aloud.
Schroer said that all four students proved to be talented writers.
“Each of the judges reported back that these essays, as a group, were outstanding and the close scoring numbers reflect this,” she said. “To be named our chapter representative, this essay is considered in addition to the student’s profile, demonstrated achievements in their school and community and their letters of recommendation.”
