Local Glastonbury Resident Wins Prestigious Polaris Award

Glastonbury resident David Rifkin, Sophomore, University of Connecticut, was one of three distinguished graduates from Leadership Greater Hartford's Common Ground program to receive a coveted Polaris Award. Jocelyn Tamborello-Noble, Spanish Teacher, Glastonbury High School, and   DeVaughn Ward, Attorney, Law Office of DeVaughn  L. Ward, were also honored with an award.

The 2013 Polaris Awards event on October 1 celebrated the 25th anniversary of Common Ground, one of the region's most successful youth leadership programs. Common Ground is a fifteen-week program, offered each spring, that engages urban and suburban high school students from the Greater Hartford area for training in leadership, diversity awareness and community problem solving. The program focuses on youth leadership development with a very diverse group of teens.

Leadership Greater Hartford's Annual Polaris Event honors local leaders for their vision, skill and courage in serving the Greater Hartford community and being a "Polaris" - the North Star that lights and guides the way for others to follow. Ted Carroll, President of Leadership Greater Hartford, indicated that the three Common Ground graduates honored "exemplify the hopes and values that inspired the program founders back in 1986."

Rifkin, a Glastonbury resident and a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, is not new to leadership roles.  Even before participating in Leadership Greater Hartford's Common Ground program he was a leader at Glastonbury High School and in his community.  David spent six years as a basketball coach for Special Olympics, and continues to be a head coach for Youth Basketball and Soccer.  He was also the founder and president of his high school's Quiz Bowl team, which finished third place in New England on the PBS televised trivia game show "As Schools Match Wits."

Rifkin believes that he was selected by Glastonbury High to participate in Common Ground because he was already identified as a leader in his school.  In fact, it was Glastonbury High School Spanish and ESL teacher, current Common Ground liaison, and fellow Polaris Award recipient, Jocelyn Tamborello-Noble, who recruited Rifkin for the Common Ground program.  Tamborello-Noble, who participated in Common Ground in 1996, is in a unique position to identify and refer Common Ground participants, for she knows first-hand who will benefit most from the program - whether they are already a class president, or a student who hasn’t quite found their niche in the school but demonstrates a lot of leadership potential.  Knowing the impact this program has, she knew that Rifkin, already a stand-out leader in his school and community, still had more to learn and would walk way a better leader.

For David Rifkin, Common Ground is "all about fostering youth leadership.  It brings together high school students with different cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds."  He says that the program taught him how to be a leader of a diverse group of people. 

Rifkin has used the lessons he learned from the Common Ground program and has applied them well in all the leadership roles he holds today.  For the past two summers David has interned for defense attorney Anne Marie Miller, George Jepsen, the Connecticut Attorney General, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.  He was elected President of his University of Connecticut class where he has the opportunity to lead a diverse group of 4,000 students.  In fact, he earned the "Rookie of the Year" award for the most valuable first-year student representative.

David is in the Honors Program at UConn and was accepted into their Special Program in Law - an elite program offering select high school seniors guaranteed admission into UConn Law School.  Also accepted into the UConn School of Business as a Business Management Major, Rifkin has achieved Dean's List, honors, and high academic standing every semester. 

Leadership Greater Hartford is the most comprehensive nonprofit community leadership organization in the country. It offers leadership training to individuals ranging from high school age to retirees, with community service projects featured in nearly all of its programs.  These projects and the program graduates continue to have lasting impact in the Hartford region.  For more information about how to be a participant or sponsor with Leadership Greater Hartford, call 860-951-6161 (x18), email info@leadershipgh.org, visit www.leadershipgh.org, or like it on Facebook.