May 2013 Sons of the American Revolution Awards
As 2nd V.P. of the Clearwater Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, my responsibility was to organize the selection of high school students from northern Pinellas and Pasco Counties. These students would be awarded, at their school’s annual award ceremonies, two types of medals.
First, with schools who had Junior ROTC units, we gave 10 Bronze Medals to their top cadets. We also gave a silver medal to a college student who was the top in her Air Force ROTC unit.
Second, at all the schools who participated, we gave a good citizenship award to a deserving student. We gave out 18 awards to students from 18 high schools.
I had the distinct honor to attend 14 of the award ceremonies and present awards at those events. You can see the photographs below that were taken at 12 of those events.
- Jacob Kiag from Seminole High School
Leland Steward from Clearwater High School 
Robert Johnston from Hudson High School 
Renee Crane from Clearwater Christian College 
Silvia Martinez-Moran from Pasco High School 
Monica Ramos from Clearwater Catholic High School 
Darren Jackson from Pinellas Park High School 
Samantha Tackett from Tarpon Springs High School 
Austin Riddaugh from Pasco High School 
Leah Bellamy receives the award for her sister Naomi from Countryside High School 
Karolina Peksa from Largo High School
There were two other great students I awarded medals, but their photos did not turn out well enough to publish.
The other awardees, 15 of them, were awarded by compatriots of mine at the Sons of the American Revolution.
This privilege of presenting these awards was the highlight of the month. I’m looking forward to organizing the schedule and visiting many of these schools next year.
