Friday, July 18, 2008
Student's activism earns scholarship
Have you heard?
JoAnne Poindexter
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Concerned about an overcrowded school bus, 12-year-old Michelle Cox approached the Bedford County School Board.
As a result, bus routes were adjusted, and a bus that once carried 65 students now carries about 48.
School buses aren't the only concern for Michelle, who attends Thaxton Elementary School. Her extracurricular activities have earned her a $1,000 scholarship from Kohl's Department Stores.
She's one of nearly 200 regional recipients of a Kohl's "Kids Who Care Scholarship." The award recognizes and rewards young people who make a difference in their communities by contributing a total of more than 1.3 billion hours of community service a year.
Ten students will win a national scholarship worth $5,000. Kohl's also will contribute $1,000 to a nonprofit organization on behalf of each national winner.
Michelle also is a library assistant at Thaxton, where she helps check out and shelve books and helps younger students read and take quizzes. She frequently helps fix computer problems.
In addition to helping in the school store, she also is the school's resident journalist, using her own camera to photograph events.
She's also written a musical that her class performed, and helps collect supplies for Toys for Tots and Books for Soldiers as SCA service projects.
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Once again, Merci Finest Assortment of European Chocolates and the Emily Post Institute are seeking one person who deserves a big thank-you.
The companies annually sponsor National Thank You Day.
For their annual National Thank You Day Contest, the companies are encouraging people to remember and recognize the everyday acts of kindness by nominating someone whose good deed has gone a long way to help or inspire them.
One grand prize winner will be awarded a thank-you prize selected by his or her nominator with a value up to $20,000.
Peggy Post, etiquette expert and best-selling author for the Emily Post Institute and spokeswoman for National Thank You Day, will present the grand prize award Sept. 22, when National Thank You Day is celebrated.
Vinton resident Mary Noble was one of the 100 first-place winners in the 2007 contest, which had more than 12,000 nominees. Her granddaughter Angie Goodson nominated her.
In a news release, Post said participating in National Thank You Day "is a great way to show gratitude and acknowledge an act of kindness. ... I encourage everyone to nominate someone whose kind deed has made a difference. By doing so, you'll experience the importance of the everyday 'thank-you' -- and how this simple expression of appreciation goes a long way toward making our world a kinder place."
Nominators should submit an essay of up to 150 words about their nominee and why that person is being nominated. They also should suggest the ultimate thank-you gift valued up to $20,000.
The 100 first-prize winners will receive an autographed copy of Post's latest book, "Excuse Me But I Was Next. The Top 100 Manners Dilemmas" and a box of the Merci chocolates.
Details and entry forms are available at www.nationalthankyouday.com; the deadline is Aug. 15.
National Thank You Day is held annually on the last Monday in September and was inspired by the findings of a survey, conducted by Merci and The Emily Post Institute that found that while 87.3 percent of Americans said they are bothered when people don't say thank you, 90.2 percent feel that they don't say thank you enough. The survey also found that saying please, thank you and you're welcome are the most important common good manners Americans need to observe more, followed by practicing patience and politeness while waiting in lines.
