A gold medal for a golden teen
18-year-old is lauded for her outstanding achievements both in and out
of classroom
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By CHRISTOPHER PALMA
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
Don't believe that hard work pays off? Ask Danielle McLaughlin.
Miss McLaughlin, 18, who graduated from Moore
Catholic High School in May, received the Congressional Award from Rep.
Vito Fossella yesterday for outstanding achievement both in and out of
the classroom.
Her family watched as the 18-year-old accepted
the gold medal from Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) in his district
office in Eltingville. Also present were City Councilmen Andrew Lanza (R-South
Shore) and James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn).
Danielle's success stands as an example of
the potential in every student to achieve his or her goals and dreams,
said Fossella.
To win the award, Miss McLaughlin successfully
achieved goals in four areas -- volunteer public service (400 hours); personal
development (200 hours); physical fitness (200 hours), and expedition/exploration
(four overnight trips).
I'm very proud of her. She earned the award,
said her mother, Annamarie McLaughlin.
To fulfill the requirements for the honor,
Miss McLaughlin volunteered for various organizations, including Staten
Island Friends for Hospice and Moore Catholic Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation. As a student at Moore, she was involved in student government
and the Literary Arts Magazine.
She also excelled on the basketball court
for Moore, scoring 1,172 points over her high school career. Her trips
included a visit to a horse farm upstate and a trip to Italy.
Shedding tears of joy after receiving her
medal, Miss McLaughlin thanked her parents.
Of her father, Bill McLaughlin, she joked,
I've taken up a lot of his retirement time. And she thanked her mother
for being my support system and the main influence in my life.
Lanza added that Miss McLaughlin is Staten
Island's gold winner, she put together the entire package, while Oddo encouraged
her to keep up the great work.
She also is the first recipient of the Maverick
Foundation's Gullickson-McGuire Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of
Firefighter Joseph Gullickson of Ladder Co. 101, who died at Ground Zero
on Sept. 11, 2001, and Dan McGuire, a former Moore student who died in
a car accident in 1976.
Miss McLaughlin soon will be off to Concordia
College in Minnesota on a full academic and athletic scholarship. She plans
to major in education.
Christopher Palma is a news reporter for the
Advance. He may be reached at cpalma@siadvance.com. |