Shrewsbury’s strongest teens honored at Gala By Joyce Kelly, Staff Writer 04/11/2007

Shrewsbury - They have survived losing a mother to cancer, overcome physical disabilities, launched a successful non-profit organization, served as a voice for victims in Sudan – and they’re all under 18 years old.

On March 24, Shrewsbury Youth & Family Services, Inc. recognized eight Shrewsbury High School students with the Outstanding Youth of Shrewsbury awards: Christine Guarino, Daniel Levine, Thomas Imbalzano, Meaghan McLean, Emily Peeples, Sumana Setty, and St. John’s High School students Daniel Mangan and Robert Shine.

“The kids were chosen because they epitomized the spirit of the award. These kids are not doing community service work because they want to put it on their resume or feel they have to fulfill an obligation,” said Jeffery Chin, executive director for SYFS.

“They do it because they truly and genuinely believe in giving back to the community, because it’s part of who they are, and part of what makes them special,” Chin said.

Many of the teens had to overcome physical and emotional obstacles before helping others, Chin said.

The eight students were nominated by community leaders and selected out of a pool of more than 20, he said.

SHS senior Meaghan McLean is “truly inspiring,” said Rebecca Jha, the teacher who nominated her.

Despite enduring a very difficult early childhood in which she lost family members and was placed in foster homes, Jha said, McLean does not expect the world to give her “an easy ride.”

“She truly does not want sympathy or see herself as a victim – she sees herself as someone who can be successful in life, and someone who is capable of making the world a better place through compassion, hard work, and a tenacious spirit,” Jha wrote.

McLean channels her energies towards various charitable endeavors and positive activities, including the SHS Varsity Alpine Ski Team; teaching sailing to underprivileged children at the Regatta Point Community Sailing Club; volunteering weekly at St. Ann’s Free Medical Clinic; and mentoring at the Stepping Stones Community Theatre Group, Jha said.

And every other month, McLean lectures to potential foster parents at the Whitinsville DSS office.

“She exemplifies resilience, compassion, and kindness,” Jha said.

McLean is also learning to become a licensed and certified pilot at Worcester airport, through its Young Eagles Club.

Chin described Christine Guarino, a Shrewsbury High School senior, as “an inspiration to virtually anyone who has come to know her.”

Despite losing her mother to cancer while in elementary school, as well as her father due to complications from back surgery a few years later, she has excelled in a number of areas at Shrewsbury High School, he said.

She consistently excelled at school, works at the Little Colonials’ preschool program, and participates in crew, basketball, and is a co-captain for volleyball.

She also volunteers as a youth religious educator and retreat leader at St. Mary’s Church.

“Christine’s positive attitude and resilient inner strength have impacted so many of the people she has come in contact with,” Chin said.

People know Thomas Imbalzano, a 10th grader at SHS, as a resilient young man with a positive and engaging attitude, Chin said.

He was born blind in his left eye, he said, but instead of limiting his activities, he has chosen to help those less fortunate than himself.

Since age 12, Imbalzano has volunteered extensively in community service projects through his youth group at St. Ann’s Church.

Imbalzano, a black belt, teaches young children the virtues of self-discipline, self-empowerment, and self-confidence through martial arts instruction at Villari’s Martial Arts Center in Shrewsbury.

He is a member of SMAC (Students for a Medically Aware Community) and has earned highest honor roll status.

At the tender age of 16, Daniel Levine, now a senior at SHS, created and founded the Massachusetts Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes baby food to shelters and needy families in Massachusetts.

To date, he has earned over $7,000 through this organization, and has collected and distributed more than 50,000 meals to needy families.

Levine is also a board member for the Worcester Area Federation of Temple Youth (an organization that assists local families with an annual Thanksgiving food drive); the co-founder of SHS@SHS, a tutoring program for students by students; manager for the SHS Varsity Football team; member of Amnesty International – Dimes for Darfur project, and the Political Action Group.

In his “spare time,” Levine competes on the varsity indoor track team and the SHS football team.

Emily Peeples, another SHS senior, was once described by former SHS Principal Daniel Gutekanst as “an excellent role model for children and adults alike…she stands up for other people when there is an injustice...”

With her peers and Congressman James McGovern, Peeples has advocated for change in regards to the world AIDS crisis, women’s rights, and the genocide in the Sudan.

She has organized benefit events to end hunger and has been “tremendously active” in her religious community at Congregation B’Nai Shalom.

Peeples boasts a 4.82 GPA, is president of ELNA (Education and Leadership for a Non-Violent Age), works in various SHS groups to promote tolerance, and reads to ESL students at elementary schools.

Fellow human rights activist Robert Shine, a junior at St. John’s, “epitomizes the concept of service above self,” according to the teacher who nominated him.

He has organized fundraisers to help the people of Darfur and St. Mary’s twin parish in Haiti.

El Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 for speaking out against human rights violations, is one of Shine’s major influences, he said.

Last year, he organized and coordinated benefit concerts to support the citizens of Pakistan in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake that devastated that region.

Shine coordinates all liturgical roles at St. Mary’s Parish, and through the church’s transitional house, he has also helped local families displaced by fire, eviction, or other disastrous circumstances.

Daniel Mangan, a senior at St. John’s High School, has volunteered as a mentor in the Special Olympics since he was 7 years old.

“This experience [volunteering] made me smile…it has made me appreciate my own life and blessings even more...though some people may call it a sacrifice, I never want to lose sight of the difference we can make in other peoples’ lives,” Mangan wrote in his award application.

“Dan is, simply put, a warm and compassionate young man who gives himself freely to a number of worthwhile causes…he is an active member of his school and his local community because it is in his very fiber to do so, a trait that has apparently been ingrained in him for quite sometime, long before his arrival at our school,” said one of the St. John’s faculty members who nominated Mangan.

Sumana Setty, a SHS senior, is an a cappella performer who aspires to study biology in college.

She volunteers at UMASS Memorial Hospital every summer and school vacation.

Setty has also been awarded the honor of interning for the Master Singers of Worcester.

Adding to her eclectic interests and accomplishments, Setty is involved in an Indian youth group, Amnesty International, Model United Nations, and Girl Scouts Troops 1256 and 50, the SHS Varsity Math Team, Latin Club, and Entrepreneurs Club; she is in the National Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society, and SHS’ Dream Team (AIDS awareness group), and performs in school musicals.

At the Gala, held at Indian Meadows Country Club in Westborough, the students were given a plaque and cash prize from Central One Federal Credit Union.

Chin is still crunching numbers, but the Gala raised about $25,000 last month to support Youth and family Services programs, which is an increase over last year’s $21,000.