Danbury students recognized with leadership awards

Ten Danbury students were selected by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) to receive student leadership awards, which were presented at the BOE meeting May 11.

The CABE Student Leadership Award recognizes one male and one female student from each middle school and high school. Students nominated exhibit the following leadership skills: willingness to take on challenges; capability to make difficult decisions; concern for others; ability to work with others; willingness to commit to a project; diplomacy; ability to understand issues clearly; and the ability to honor a commitment.

The following students from Danbury received this award:

• Broadview Middle School Caitlyn VanTronk and Matthew Henry
• Rogers Park Middle School Abigail Gumpright and Jose Mendez
• Westside Middle School Academy Rashmi Pai and Braeden Callaghan
• Danbury High School Sophia Pompilio and Rahul Malayappan
• Alternative Center for Excellence Shanisha Watson-Danzy and Johnathan McKenzie

Introduced by representatives from their schools, the students were acknowledged for their volunteering commitments, their work within respective religious communities, their academic achievements, and their extracurricular activities which ranged from being a master violinist to being a member of the DHS robotics team. The students look forward to pursuing careers that include being a doctor, history teacher and social worker.

Teachers who helped present the students commented that Brady Callaghan had a “smile that could change the world,” that Shainisha Watson-Danzy challenged herself by getting higher grades every semester, and that Caitlyn VanTronk “restores my faith” in the world.

This fall DHS seniors Sophia Pompilio and Rahul Malayappan will be attending Arizona State and University of California Berkeley, respectively.