Tolland Students Recognized for Good Deeds

The Tolland Knights of Columbus Council 6626 held their annual youth awards ceremony on Wednesday May 18th at the Church of Saint Matthew in Tolland. The annual youth awards recognize young people that are making a difference in the Tolland community. Awards in two categories were given out.
The Civil Citizenship Award was created after the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. After seeing the attention given out to some very bad individuals that carried out the shootings, Knights of Columbus council members wanted to find a way to recognize at least some of the many great kids in our schools doing really nice things for others that are often flying under the radar. The award is presented to a student or students from Tolland Middle School that are recommended by the principal and staff of Tolland Middle School, who make their school better through selfless acts of kindness. This year’s award was presented to a group of five girls who are known as the “Elves”. The students were chosen as recognition for their involvement in spearheading several projects aimed at spreading happiness to every student and staff member in their school. They are Erin Busch, Emma Clapprood, Emily Bliss, Paige Simler and Sierra Lambert.
The Catholic leadership award is given by the Knight of Columbus council to two students who are nominated by a religious education teacher for their example of catholic leadership in their own lives. Nominees submit an essay detailing examples of how they show Catholic leadership. All of the essays submitted give outstanding examples of acts of charity, volunteerism, kindness and leadership. The submissions are reviewed blindly and two are chosen for recognition. This year’s recipients are Marissa Airoldi and Rebecca Nowinski.
For more information contact the Tolland knights of Columbus at tollandknights@gmail.com