DeKalb County-area high school graduates earn 2023 Centennial Service Award

DeKALB – Resource Bank recently awarded its 2023 Centennial Service Award to 11 DeKalb County-area high school graduates.

The scholarship recipients are selected based on a commitment to their communities through participation in civic and volunteer activities through high school, according to a news release. Resource Bank has awarded each of the students $1,000 toward their continued education.

The 11 students, chosen from more than 90 applicants, awarded this year are:

• Alexa Anderson, Indian Creek High School, was vice president of FFA, starting a program to engage elementary school students in FFA topics and the agriculture community. She taught topics including seeds, dairy production, and farm animals and equipment. Anderson volunteered for the Community Concern for Children Auction, setting the event up and carrying auction items.
• Makayla Barsotti, Kaneland High School, volunteered as an overnight counselor for Special Camps, a summer camp for individuals with intellectual disabilities. She assisted at West Chicago Elementary School during its family reading night and Thanksgiving meal dropoff. Barsotti also participated in the Kaneville Family Movie Night, Lions Club Special Needs Carnival and Northwestern Marianjoy Rehabilitation Center.

• Bailey Botterman, Genoa-Kingston High School, was a member and president of FFA. She volunteered for the Genoa Community Gardens, Route 27 roadside cleanup, the Genoa Community Thanksgiving Meal, the Genoa Harvest Festival and the Genoa-Kingston FFA pumpkin plot. Botterman also was a National Honor Society member, part of her local 4-H and a Genoa-Kingston High School student ambassador.
• Grace Harris, Hampshire High School, served as a student ambassador, participating in freshman orientations, student tours and “chalk the walk” to aid the student body. She was a National Honor Society member, volunteering at local charity drives, grade school events, fundraisers, the Elgin Food Pantry and the D303 Food Pantry.
• Elizabeth Kleckner, Sycamore High School, served as Youth Engaged in Philanthropy’s executive team grant chair. She assisted with the Hope Have Meal Prep, parent-teacher conferences, Cocoa for Caring, Mut Strut, Awareness Night and 50 Men Who Can Cook. Kleckner earned more than 115 hours as a Key Club volunteer, facilitating meetings, assisting at events and creating signup sheets.
• Zalak Patel, Rochelle High School, volunteered for four years at the Hope Chest thrift store, supporting HOPE. She tutored math students and assisted a foreign exchange student. Patel volunteered as a library monitor for Rochelle Township High School Library, answering student questions and delivering and checking in and out books. She also was a volunteer for the Rochelle Public Library and “All About Me,” a program that raises money to provide cancer patients with “care bags.”

• Cody Peterson, Sandwich High School, served as vice president of FFA, organizing and operating a community leaf pickup service and picking up garbage along Route 34. He also has tended to the FFA’s pumpkin patch plot, planting pumpkin seeds; picking weeds; and carrying, washing and presenting pumpkins at the Sandwich Fair.
• Rocco Rosati, Kaneland High School, volunteered at the Hesed House homeless shelter, running its convenience store and cooking and serving meals. He participated in the Elburn Days Fair and Hughes Road cleanups with Boy Scout Troop 7. Rosati also volunteered for his church’s vacation Bible school, the Lazarus House homeless shelter and Feed My Starving Children.
• Emilee Schultz, Kaneland High School, volunteered for more than 250 hours at Fox Valley Hands of Hope, the Epilepsy Foundation of G.C. and the Sugar Grove Corn Boil. She also spent 300 hours as a Sugar Grove Public Library volunteer, providing free community computer classes such as a Python and 3D-modeling course.
• Luke Templin, Sycamore High School, volunteered for Meals on Wheels, the Spartan Food Pantry, Feed My Starving Children, Walnut Grove Vocational Farm, Christ Community Church and The Salvation Army Food Pantry. He played cello at A Note to Remember, the Ellwood House Holiday event, and at Sycamore Elementary School holiday events. Additionally, Templin performed at Oak Crest Retirement Home, Good Samaritan Nursing Center, Kishwaukee Hospital, Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra pre-concerts and Christ Community Church.
• Audrey Witte, Indian Creek High School, sewed and distributed more than 1,000 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. She bought materials and reached out for community donations to make the masks. Witte also volunteered for the Liberia Children’s Library Mission, Indian Creek Middle School volleyball program, DeKalb Community Grow Mobile, the Special Olympics, Neighbors in Christ Ecumenical and Child Care FCCLA.