The following local high school students were awarded the 2013 Saint Michael's College Book Award for Academic Achievement with a Social Conscience:
Alex Kolberg, of Batavia, a student at Notre Dame High School.
Grace Mortellaro, of Elba, a student at Notre Dame High School.
The award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to leadership in volunteer service and academic achievement. Saint Michael's, located in Burlington, Vt., one of America's top 10 college towns, was founded on the belief that serving others is part of its Catholic tradition, and through the award seeks to honor those who demonstrate the true spirit of volunteerism.
Award recipients, named at schools throughout the country, are high school juniors who are inductees of the National Honor Society or an equivalent school-sponsored honors organization. They must demonstrate a commitment to service activities in high school or community organizations, taking leadership roles in these activities.
Winners were presented the book "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" (HarperCollins 2000) by Loung Ung, a 1993 Saint Michael's College graduate who has become a widely acclaimed author. In "First They Killed My Father," Ung gives a powerful autobiographical account, from a child's perspective, of surviving captivity during the genocidal Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.
About Saint Michael's:
At Saint Michael's College www.smcvt.edu students are challenged to do their best, find their niche, take on opportunities to grow, and immerse themselves in academic pursuits. Intellectual rigor, compassion, teamwork, caring-these characterize a Saint Michael's experience. A residential Catholic college, Saint Michael's is steeped in the social justice spirit of its founding priests, the Edmundites. Saint Michael's is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top 10 college towns.
