Jonathan Schefers won the John McLaughlin Citizenship Award for ‘98. The award is given to an eighth grade student who writes an essay telling why they deserve the award.Schefers has been involved with student council, band, choir, and pops choir. He also went on the Washington, D.C. trip with the eighth grade students in April.
He was given this award during the eighth grade graduation ceremony at school.
The winning essay written by Jonathan Schefers is written below:
“I think I deserve the John McLaughlin Citizenship Award because I feel I am a very involved person and help out my community a lot. I feel it is very important to be involved in the community because our community needs the help and it builds responsibility.
“In my school I have been involved in student council throughout middle school and am currently in band, choir, and pops choir. I also participate in football and basketball. In student council you have to be a positive role model, hard worker, listen to student’s views and ideas, and be willing to do many things for the school. Some activities we’ve done throughout the year are planning dances for seventh and eighth graders, organize a food shelf drive where we give prizes to the primetimes with the most pounds of food per person, etc. We also keep a budget of the money we receive from the pop and candy machines and use it for special occasions or requests from certain organizations. In pops choir during the winter we sing Christmas carols at the Paynesville Area Senior Center, Community First National Bank, and the Melrose Credit Union in town. I have also been on the “A” honor roll the last three quarters of this year, been a student of the month, and have participated in the spelling bee, two math contests in St. Cloud, and a solo and ensemble contest for band. In the fall and spring I have helped the community on community service day in school by helping others wash windows or rake lawns. Also, last April I got a chance to go to Washington, D.C. with my peers in Civics class. I learned a lot about our national capital and many historical sights and figures.
“I am also involved in my church. My parish is St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Lake Henry where I attend every week. I am a member of the adult choir, a mass server, and I attend religion classes in the winter.
“In my community I am involved with 4-H and have been a member of the Boy Scouts. I belong to the Koronis Konquerors 4-H group in which we do lots for the community. In 4-H we have highway cleanup that we do twice a year, and we play bingo with the senior citizens at the Good Samaritan Care Center. We also just recently planted shrubs and flowers at the Paynesville Historical Museum which was lots of work and fun. I also show cattle at the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre. Last year I won a trip to the State Fair in the cities with one of my Brown Swiss calves and placed first in my class. I am a member of the Stearns County Junior Knowledge Bowl team which consists of four people on one team. My team placed third this year in a state competition at the University of Minnesota. I also participate in Stearns County Cattle Judging teams. When in Boy Scouts I earned many pins and badges. Just a few I earned were Citizen, Communicator, and Outdoor-sman badges. Some activities we did for the community were highway cleanup, caroling during Christmas season and bowling or playing darts with seniors at the Good Samaritan Care Center.
“This is why I feel I deserve the John McLaughlin Citizenship Award.”