Rotarians Recognize Student Achievements

The Concord Rotary Club honored students at Concord-Carlisle High School not for their high GPAs or their ability to score touchdowns, said club President Doug Detweiler, but for their service to the school community.

"We recognize you for different reasons," said Detweiler.

The students were chosen by their extra-curricular activities by the adviser.

"They put in the extra effort," said Detweiler of the almost 50 young men and women that got awards.

"These are the next generation of leaders and citizens," said Detweiler.

Keynote speaker was 1996 CCHS graduate Joe Goodwin who enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from Harvard.

It was in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 that Goodwin joined the Army, eventually serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and winning a Bronze Star for bravery.

"I am a child of Concord," said Goodwin.

He said he was defined by his family, town and school to serve the nation.

"When the twin towers fell, I had just graduated and hadn't started a career, and I knew that the world of Sept. 12 would be very different from the day before," said Goodwin.

"I wanted to help our nation with the most significant attack in a generation," he said. "If I don't go, who will, I thought. It was fair, right and just that I give something back."

Goodwin said he was influenced as well by his mother's historical research and books. Doris Kearns Goodwin has earned top literary prizes for her work on Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, the Kennedys and Abraham Lincoln. His father, Richard Goodwin, also served in the Army between Korea and Vietnam, and is remembered for his pursuit of justice as a lawyer in the quiz show scandal and other notable trials in the 1960s.

Goodwin said he learned overseas in war to "act in spite of my fear."

He returned home and had to cope with the horrific experience "intellectually not emotionally."

"But I learned more, did more and saw more than I ever thought possible," he said.

Rotarian Kerry Cronin and Detweiler handed out the prizes after the crowd of parents and students ate a charcoal broiled dinner and cake provided by the Rotary.

Award winners:

John Retterer-Moore, Patrick Mitchell, Kevin Clarke, Caroline Deignan, Katie Hendrickson, Alexandra Coffin, Hannah Tremblay, Dixie Morrison, Kathy Delsener, Kaytee Curran, Lily Gordon, Patrick Deedy, Meredith Lorch, Lily Cano Maris, Connor Fischelis, Sloane Brazina, Nick Luther, Annie King, Brenna Morrison, Dillon Mariano, Alec Shanahan, Jack Delehey, Jesse Bilafer, Anastasia Schubert, Tess Yerby, Hillary Cook, Natalie Fondriest, Lucy Fandel, Elise Ruan, Kristen Hwang, Jenny Borjas, Helen Titchner, Celeste Hall, Tommy Veitch, Sonia Boor, Marcus Kulik, Ben Anderson, Chapman Wells, Magdalena Prentice, Elizabeth Curran, Jeremy Alston-Follansbee, Julia Hisey, Lucas Morrill, Geoffrey Bolinger, Glen Metcalfe, Sam Fell, Jessica Stout, Elise Goodhue, Phil Lavely, Hayden Callahan, Alec Ahee, Bridget Schelzi, Katie Wheeler, Katie Mills, Julia Hisey, Nick Dragone, Kathleen Dreher, Kayla Maple, Justtin Demers, Jonathan Davies, Patrick Cannon, Joanna Nix, Kati Miller and Kristen Kiel.