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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Each year, the Westwood Rotary Club and Westwood Youth & Family Services collaborate to honor the youth of Westwood through the Recognize a Youth Awards (R.A.Y.) Awards. The R.A.Y. Awards shine a light, so to speak, on the outstanding citizenship of Westwood’s young people. Recipients distinguished themselves through their initiative and commitment to community service and have demonstrated an ethic of caring for others that is essential to the health of the community.
This year there were four recipients: Sophia Paravolas, Cameron Valentine, Cate Herndon, and Erica DiDonato. On Tuesday, May 16, the recipients were honored at the Rotary Club’s meeting at the Westwood Public Library.
The awards were presented by Danielle Sutton, Director of Town & Family Services. Each recipient was introduced and said a few words about their work. Cate and Erica, eighth graders at Thurston Middle School, were first. They are the founding members of the “Choose to be Nice Club,” a community service and school climate club designed to spread kindness throughout the school and the community. As part of the club, the two students spearheaded the “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign at their school, an effort to stop the use of the “R” word in negative and harmful ways. “We got a big banner in the cafeteria and we spread the word. People were asked to sign the banner and by signing it you pledge that you won’t say the word again to hurt someone or say it in a negative way or in a joking manner,” Cate explained. “All grades were involved, so we had almost 900 students who signed the banner.” The girls work hard on a variety of different kinds of community service, and maintain that community service can be easier than it looks. “We feel like community service could just be picking up trash, or making cookies, but it could just be giving a smile to someone who’s down or something like that,” Erica added.
The next recipient was Sophia Paravalos, a senior at Westwood High School. Sophie has suffered from anxiety since a young age, and found it helpful to write songs about her struggles. As a result, her friends began to open up to her about their own struggles, which inspired Sophie to become an advocate for mental health awareness. “Next year, I plan to go to Berklee College of Music to study music therapy and songwriting,” Sophie said. “I write a lot of songs about my journey with mental health and those around me. I hope to improve on my songwriting and be able to reach bigger audiences about mental health and talking and just singing my songs around it.” Recently, Sophie completed an online campaign to raise money to record her first album. She raised $9,000 in just four weeks, and will record her album over the summer.
Last, but certainly not least, was Cameron Valentine, a junior at the high school. Cameron is an Eagle Scout who has volunteered thousands of hours with the Boy Scouts, including designing and building an outdoor chapel at the First Baptist Church. He is a part of the Order of Arrow BSA, Student Council, on the football and hockey teams, and is a mentor for Youth & Family Services. “I believe community service is essential for a successful community and I believe it advocates for good citizenship and creates good citizens,” Cameron said.
