Pictured from left: Ashlyn Golden, Makaila Brewster, Jennifer Bensley
From the Catherine Schuyler Chapter,
At the April 18th meeting held in Alfred Station, Catherine Schuyler Chapter DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) recognized the 2024 DAR Good Citizens chosen by participating Allegany County high schools. Those students are:
Jennifer Bensley, Alfred Almond; Makaila Brewster, Andover; Christopher Weaver, Belfast; Nebula Wilson-Smith, Bolivar-Richburg; Elizabeth Drum, Cuba-Rushford; Kylee Ellsworth, Fillmore; Ashlyn Golden, Friendship; Molly Hannon, Genesee Valley; Tyler Nickerson, Scio; Elijah Brophy, Wellsville; Isabella Potter, Whitesville.
Each school’s Good Citizen will receive a pin and certificate. Students and their parents who were able to attend the meeting and luncheon were presented with their certificates and pins. The Chapter winner, Alfred-Almond’s Jennifer Bensley, was additionally given a chapter check for $100.
The DAR Good Citizens Program is a decades old means of encouraging and recognizing the traits of an outstanding American citizen, as defined by the DAR.
One Good Citizen is selected by each participating school district as the senior class member who most exemplifies the DAR Good Citizen qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism.
An essay has become part of an expanded scholarship contest for which participation is optional on the part of the student. The timed essay accounts for 30% of the judges’ ratings. The remaining 70% involves the student’s description of the ways in which they have demonstrated the Good Citizen qualities, their academic records, and recommendations. The judges do not belong to the DAR and use pre-set, national judging criteria.
Soon after its founding in 1897, Catherine Schuyler Chapter offered an essay contest to local students, with gold and silver medals being awarded. The national program was created in 1934 as the DAR Good Citizenship Pilgrimage. The state winners were senior girls from four-year high schools who all received a trip to Washington, DC. In 1952, the name was changed to DAR Good Citizens Committee and monetary awards were presented to the winners. Some time later, boys were also included.
As times change, the program has had to change, but the qualities of good citizenship that are reflected in and exemplified by these local Good Citizens have continually prepared them for a successful future.
