-
The Rotary Club Honors Outstanding HHS Students
Hauppauge High School seniors Diana and Christina Musco have discovered the joy and satisfaction that is gained by giving of themselves in the service of helping others. Their compassion and dedication was recognized and honored by the Hauppauge Chapter of the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club named Diana and Christina "Students of the Month" for October 2017. They were invited to a breakfast meeting of the Rotary Club by Chapter President Patricia Bowens McCarthy.
For more than 110 years, Rotary members have been addressing challenges around the world.
Grassroots at the core, Rotary links 1.2 million members to form an organization of international scope. It started with the vision of one man. Paul Harris, a Chicago attorney, formed the Rotary Club of Chicago in 1905 so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas, form meaningful, lifelong friendships, and give back to their communities.
Rotary's name came from the group's early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of its members. Paul Harris is quoted as saying, "Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves."
Rotary is dedicated to six areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world. The first area is promoting peace. Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. They train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
The second area of focus is fighting disease. Rotary educates and equips communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for over 30 years, and their goal of ridding the earth of this disease is in sight. They started in 1979 with vaccinations for 6 million children in the Philippines. Today, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic. To contribute to the end polio effort visit https://www.endpolio.org/.
Rotary is focused on providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. They share their expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure the projects succeed long-term.
The fourth area of focus is dedicated to saving mothers and children. Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. Rotarians expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
Rotary supports education. More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Rotary's goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
The sixth area of focus is growing local economies by carrying out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. Rotarians also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
Twin sisters, Diana and Christina Musco are the Co-Presidents of the high school service organization, the Interact Club. Diana and Christina are members of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Youth and Community Alliance, Ethics Bowl debate club, Spanish Club and Environmental Club. Diana has been the Secretary of the Student Government every year since she was a Freshman. Both ladies are enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.
In the summer of 2017, Diana Musco volunteered in Thailand through Global Leadership Adventures (GLA). She spent two weeks teaching English to elementary school Thai children, volunteered at an elephant conservation, attended Thai cooking classes and Thai boxing classes, and explored temples and markets to immerse in the culture. Due to the qualities of leadership and teamwork displayed throughout the trip, Diana was nominated to be a GLA Ambassador.
When asked about her future plans after high school, Diana said, "I plan on going to college for a dual certification in childhood education and special education with a double minor in Spanish and teaching English as a second language. I hope to continue onto graduate school for a Masters in literacy and cognition. I got in contact with the principals of an elementary school and high school and was able to shadow teachers for a day to see the day-to-day aspects of the job and help the students.
Since I really enjoyed my volunteering experience in Thailand, I would like to continue traveling and volunteering through Semester at Sea. For 102 days, I will be exploring 11 countries while taking college classes on a ship. When I dock in each country, I will be able to choose field programs that will allow me to volunteer in each place." Diana has applied to three SUNY schools.
Christina Musco served at Stony Brook Hospital as an operating room volunteer where she stocked the operating rooms, observed surgeries, and learned from the doctors. She earned the President's Volunteer Bronze Award for her 160 hours of volunteering at Stony Brook Hospital within three months.
Christina collected donations and purchased fabric and stuffing. She sewed 50 pillows and donated them to the Women's and Children's Shelter Project.
She is starting a "Doctors of Tomorrow Scholarship Program" this November. She will attend a symposium to learn about medical school requirements and spend a day shadowing a doctor.
When asked about her future plans after high school, Christina said, "I would like to pursue a Biology major with a minor in Spanish on the pre-med track in college and continue onto medical school to become a surgeon (either orthopedic or cardiac)." Christina has applied to thirteen colleges in the U.S. northeast.
The Rotary Club is proud to select Diana and Christina Musco as the first honorees in the newly re-instated "Student of the Month" program. The next selection will be revealed at the November 29th Rotary Meeting.
Rotary's programs are developing the next generation of leaders, providing funding to make the world a better place, and making peace a priority. And their programs are not just for club members. Learn how you can make a difference in your community through Rotary. Visit https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs
The Rotary information was reprinted from their website at https://www.rotary.org/.
End Polio site: https://www.endpolio.org/