Three local students are the Brig. General James Brickett/Old Newbury Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens for 2010.
The chapter, which serves greater Haverhill, gives the annual award to recognize academic excellence and patriotism; students are selected by the teachers of their respective schools.
Adrian Tatro of Haverhill High, Marc Lovett of Pentucket Regional High School, and Gina Barton of Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, were this year's recipients, selected by their schools as dependable, outstanding in character, service oriented, patriotic and true leaders.
They each received a Good Citizen pin, a certificate, a monetary award from the chapter, and bouquet of red, white and blue flowers.
"I was honored, just to be picked out of my whole class was really special," said Barton, a member of the UN Debate Team, a reporter for the school paper, and class secretary. She studies cosmetology at Whittier and plans to attend UNH in the fall. She hopes to become a math teacher.
"I'm pretty excited," said Lovett, a member of student council, the National Honor Society, peer mediators, foreign language honor society, the school's baseball team, and captain of the football team. "It's a cool opportunity. One brother, my sister and my dad also received this award, so it's cool to be a part of it."
Lovett plans to attend Boston College in the fall, where he hopes to double major in history and secondary education so he can one day be a history teacher.
"I didn't expect this at all, but I'm psyched," said Tatro. "I'm really excited."
Tatro is captain of the field hockey team, throws the shot put in indoor and outdoor track, is vice president of the National Honor Society, secretary of the Latin Club and member of the Excel Club. Tatro also plans to attend Boston College and will major in linguistics.
After being selected, the students had to write an essay in about an hour, in front of a member of the school faculty. Without research or planning, the students had to address "our American heritage and our responsibility to preserve it." The question posed to them was: "What are the biggest challenges facing us?"
The three winners read their essays aloud to the room before receiving their awards.
Lovett, of Groveland, spoke about remembering the core values of the nation's Founding Fathers: simplicity, unity, faith and family.
Barton, of Dracut, spoke about the importance of improving education. And Tatro addressed the need for hard work in preserving our heritage.
"All three of these individuals are outstanding," said Susan Spurling, the Good Citizen chapter chairwoman. "You hear so many bad things about kids these days, but I think these kids are the norm. They are responsible and dependable and involved in school. It gives me faith in our young people."
To be involved with the DAR, members must be able to track their family history to an ancestor in the American Revolution, whether a soldier, a nurse, or another participant.
