Two Rotary Clubs honor Blue Hills Regional students

PHOTO CAPTION: Left to right - Dimitri DeCristofaro, President-elect Leah Bradshaw of the Neponset Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, Abigail Jean-Baptiste, Alexisia Stewart, Madison Parlon, Sarcenas Jean-Philippe, Marcus Mompoint, Kasey Zaleski, Abigail Perez, Ryan Sullivan, President-elect Michael Wish of the Randolph/Avon/Canton Rotary Club and Zachary Phinney. (Photo by McKee Photography / Neponset Valley Rotary).

By Judy Bass

Representatives from two local Rotary Clubs – the Neponset Valley Rotary Club and the Randolph/Avon/Canton Rotary Club – attended the annual Rotary breakfast and student awards ceremony at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton on May 2, 2018.

At this event, which was held in the school’s student-run restaurant and attended by Blue Hills administrators, Rotarians, students and their family members, a select number of outstanding Blue Hills seniors and sophomores were honored with scholarships, career assistance awards or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

In attendance were Blue Hills Superintendent-Director James P. Quaglia, Blue Hills Principal Jill Rossetti, Blue Hills Director of Special Services Angelo Dimitriou, Blue Hills Lead Guidance Counselor Emily Burns, Blue Hills Dean of Students Thomas Cavanaugh, Blue Hills Academic Director Geoffrey Zini, Blue Hills Vocational Director Michelle Sylvia, Blue Hills Coordinator of Career Planning and Co-Op Kim Poliseno, who is a member of the Neponset Valley Rotary Club, Blue Hills Regional District School Committee member from Dedham Thomas R. Polito, Jr., Incoming Neponset Valley Rotary President Leah Bradshaw who stood in for President Michael Podolski, and Incoming Randolph/Avon/Canton Rotary Club President Michael Wish.

Supt. Quaglia, Principal Rossetti, Lead Guidance Counselor Burns and Dean Cavanaugh each addressed the guests, welcoming all of them and expressing gratitude to the Rotarians for their generosity and pride in the achievements of the student honorees.

The breakfast was prepared by the teachers and students of Blue Hills Culinary Arts Department.

The awards to the students were as follows:

Seniors Marcus Mompoint (Randolph) and Sarcenas Jean-Philippe (Randolph) each received a $1,000 scholarship from the Neponset Valley Rotary Club.

Seniors Kasey Zaleski (Avon) and Alexisia Stewart (Randolph) each received a $500 scholarship from the Randolph/Avon/Canton Rotary Club.

Career assistance awards of $250 each, which help students pay for the tools and equipment they will need for their future profession, went to seniors Abigail Jean-Baptiste (Canton), Madison Parlon (Dedham), Zachary Phinney (Holbrook) and Ryan Sullivan (Braintree). These awards were from the Neponset Valley Rotary Club.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) were given to sophomores Dimitri DeCristofaro (Braintree) from the Neponset Valley Rotary Club and Abigail Perez (Randolph) from the Randolph/Avon/Canton Rotary. These awards entitle a student to an expense-paid trip to a leadership conference held in Massachusetts during the summer.

The school extends sincere thanks to these Rotary Clubs for their enthusiastic, ongoing support of Blue Hills and its students.