By Jane Scrafford

The Tawasentha Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is proud to announce the selection of four local high school seniors as DAR Good Citizens.

The Good Citizens Program is a long-standing event in the DAR year. Each chapter notifies local schools of the opportunity to name one high school senior as the school’s DAR Good Citizen. Selected students must exemplify the character traits of the Good Citizen program, which are dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism.

Mujtaba Warsi, center, a Bethlehem High School student, is flanked by his mother, Faiza Warsi, right, and Jane Scrafford, Tawasentha Chapter’s chairwoman for the Good Citizens Award. His essay is, among the four local winners, the one chosen to compete at the national level.

Each student is then given the opportunity to enter the national society’s essay contest. The essay topic and question remain a secret until the time of the writing, which is supervised by school personnel.

This year, the topic was “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It,” and the question to be answered was “How are our freedoms and responsibilities as good citizens changing?”

Local independent judges selected the best essay, using a rubric supplied by the NSDAR, after which it is submitted to the next level of the contest. The national winner of the contest is invited to Washington, D.C. for special recognition and a prize of $5,000.

This year’s winners for the Tawasentha chapter are:

— For the Academy of the Holy Names, Alexandra McKenna-Mantica, daughter of James and Jahna McKenna-Mantica of Albany;

— For Berne-Know-Westerlo Central School, Sarah L. Abbott, daughter of Douglas and Maureen Abbott of East Berne;

— For Bethlehem Central School, Mujtaba Warsi, son of Faiza Warsi of Delmar; and

— For the Greenville Central School, Michael Schonning, son of Stephen and Ann Marie Schonning of Greenville.

All winners demonstrated excellent academic progress and high aspirations in addition to the qualities required for the Good Citizens program. Each senior received a certificate from the NSDAR, a wallet card, a special pin, and a $100 check from the Tawasentha Chapter.

In addition, Mujtaba Warsi’s essay was submitted to the next level of the contest.

The Tawasentha Chapter, NSDAR has been active for over 100 years. Its members work together to both learn about our area’s rich history and serve the community through historic preservation, commemoration of historical events, support of scholarship opportunities, and the recognition of exemplary youth. For more information, contact Regent Claudia Engelhardt at 235-4969.

The Tawasentha Chapter, NSDAR wishes to congratulate all of its new Good Citizens, our future leaders, for their accomplishments.

Editor’s note: Jane Scrafford is the Tawasentha Chapter’s chairwoman for the Good Citizens Award.