Distinguished Student of Service Sara Shipley, center, is joined by Rotarian Karen Easton, left, her parents Jim and Dawnmarie Shipley, and grandparents Carolyn and Jim Shipley. Photo by Kurt SchoenbergROTARY News:
Los Alamos High School junior Sarah Shipley was honored recently by the Rotary Club of Los Alamos as a Distinguished Student of Service.
Shipley is the daughter of Dawnmarie and Jim Shipley.
Each school year, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos selects nine high school juniors to honor as a Distinguished Student of Service. Juniors are recognized in hopes of inspiring their interest in Rotary programs that fall during the summer following junior year. Students are nominated by their teachers and chosen on the basis of their academic achievement, extra-curricular activities, and, in particular, their service to the community.
Shipley has made service part of her life by being involved in several community services, activities, and athletics. In addition to being a member of National Honor Society, Shipley is a member of Key Club and the Hilltalkers Speech and Debate Team. She also is a member of the LAHS Lunch Bunch, meeting for lunch once a week with special education students, and is a tutor at Barranca Mesa Elementary school.
In an essay, Shipley shared one of the challenges facing today’s youth: the American education system is stilling failing. She wrote, “Education in the U.S. has fallen increasingly behind. We currently rank 27th in math, 25th in science, and 24th in reading.” Despite Los Alamos’s large population of highly-educated parents, most work full-time; their elementary students are often in an unstructured environment from the end of school until they are picked up at the end of the work day. If the family has to commute, there isn’t always time for school work assistance, and school performance suffers.
To address this, Sarah spends Tuesday afternoons at Barranca Mesa Elementary tutoring 6 th -grade students. She has watched her students become proficient in their studies while ensuring they have quality time with family and adequate sleep. Sarah would like to see more teenagers volunteer to tutor elementary students as a way to address the unmet educational needs in our community.
Shipley was joined at the luncheon by her parents and by grandparents Carolyn and Jim Shipley. She was nominated by Margo Batha, LAHS Language Arts and Hilltalkers coach.
