Two GHHS Grads Receive Governor's Service Award
Date: May 8, 2009
Two seniors from Grand Haven High School received the State of Michigan Governor’s Service Award at the GHHS Senior Honors Convocation held Thursday, May 7. Regina Robinson and Patrick Werksma were honored for each giving more than 400 hours of service to their community throughout four years of high school.
Shannon Morton, Director of Volunteerism for Greater Ottawa County United Way, presented the awards on behalf of Governor Jennifer Granholm. Morton also presented the Volunteer Centers of Michigan Service Excellence Medallion to each honoree. The students tracked their service hours and qualified for the awards through United Way’s Student Service Learning program.
Robinson is the daughter of Sally Dingman of Spring Lake and Stanley Robinson of Roscommon. She was active throughout high school in Student Senate, volunteered with North Ottawa Recreation Program and at local elementary schools, and launched a coat drive at Grand Haven High School, among other activities. In a reflective essay, she wrote, “As a senior looking back on everything I have done in high school, I am most proud of the time I spent giving back to my community. Volunteering has opened my eyes to many new horizons and made me a better person.” She will graduate with high honors from GHHS later this month and begin pre-medical studies at Grand Valley State University in the fall.
Werksma is the son of Henry and Louann Werksma of Grand Haven. He mentored middle school students in the after-school Community C.H.I.L.L. program at River Haven Clubhouse, helped coach Buccaneer youth football camps, served on the Youth Advisory Committee of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation, and found his future career when he volunteered to help cast and direct a video about the Student Service Learning program that was produced by GVSU advanced film and video students. He will graduate with honors from GHHS and begin film and video studies at GVSU in the fall. In his essay, he wrote, “As a student service learner I believe I have helped make a difference, but the differences I made were nothing compared to the impact my service experiences made in me. From helping a child learn to throw a football to teaching another one long division, I have stitched myself into the seams of this community and have grown in admiration of its present state and of its potential.”
The Student Service Learning Program is available to all students at Grand Haven High School, as well as other schools throughout the county, as a means to develop their potential and understand their communities through volunteerism. To learn more, visit www.ottawaunitedway.org and click on “volunteer” on the home page, or call Shannon Morton at (616) 610-1338.
