Rotary names LAHS junior Joshua Posada as a 2020 Distinguished Student of Service/Courtesy/Rotary

By Vincent Chiravalle and Linda Hull
Rotary Club of Los Alamos

The Motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. To support this, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos honors “Distinguished Students of Service” in their junior year of high school each academic year.

Students are first nominated by their teachers who are asked to select those who:

• Have given positive contributions to their high school and/or in the community;
• Have a good attitude toward learning;
• Are good citizens, are respectful of their peers and teachers; and
• Have good grades, attendance, and classroom participation.

The Club then selects students based on demonstrated spirit of service and exemplification of the Rotary 4-Way Test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

The Rotary Club of Los Alamos recently selected Los Alamos High School junior Joshua Posada as a Distinguished Student of Service. Posada is indeed one who has made service part of his life and also is a well-rounded student.

Posada is a member of the National Honor Society and treasurer for the iVOTE civics club. He also is an accomplished musician who plays the viola. As such he is a member of the LAHS Symphony Strings Orchestra, the lead violist of the Youth Symphony of Santa Fe, the Northern New Mexico Honors Orchestra, and has been selected to participate for three years in the highest level of performance in the New Mexico All-State Orchestra.

Posada also is the founder of the high school String Theory Quartet. He uses his musical talent to help others by performing at Friday Night Dining Restaurant to benefit the needy, elderly, and homeless, and by being a private music instructor for elementary students.

In addition to these activities, Posada is a student athlete, captain of the varsity tennis team and summer tennis camp instructor. He also has volunteered at the Betty Ehart Senior Center and as a state qualifier in National History Day.

In a Rotary essay, Posada shared one of the challenges facing today’s youth: namely “that social media is sucking the motivation and self-worth from the youth.”

He continues, describing his experiences with a learning-disabled student, that “Music provides a safe place where my student can have success and unlock his creativity. If someone learns how to play an instrument, they learn something that is a gift for himself as well as a lifelong skill that helps with self-esteem … Through service to elementary, middle, and high school, I would like to be able to instill an interest in music and illustrate how it can be a creative outlet without limitations … I find it imperative that helping through music can fix this significant problem of extreme media use.”

The Rotary Club of Los Alamos feels that this is a very worthy effort and commends Posada for his service to the youth in Los Alamos.

Posada is the son of Judy and Enrique Posada. He named Los Alamos elementary and high school orchestra teacher Michelle Rosette as the teacher who has been most influential in his life.