Broward County Students Commended for Leadership, Community Service

By Victoria Cadiz

            Four Broward County students were honored at a ceremony held recently by the Coral Springs City Commission. “Each of you is a star in your own rite,” stated City Commissioner Claudette Bruck as she praised the teenagers for their accomplishments. Present were Shayna Gershman of Coral Springs High School, Lianne Epstein of Pine Crest School, Hilary Barr of North Broward Preparatory High School, and Robert Levy of Deerfield Beach High School, all recognized for winning prestigious Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards in the areas of Speech, Athletics, Science, and Foreign Language, respectively.

            The awards, which have been given to one student in each of the fifteen categories in both Broward County since 1984 and Miami-Dade County since 1959, include a Silver Knight trophy; a medallion presented by American Airlines, one of the program’s sponsors; as well as a $1,500 reward. The Miami Herald seeks to grant the awards to high school seniors who have “not only maintained good grades but have also unselfishly applied their special knowledge and talents to contribute significant services to their schools and communities,” according to the Awards website. The four students who were honored along with the rest of the winners at the April 29 BankAtlantic Center ceremony certain fit that bill.

            Joining her high school debate team at a shy freshman, Gershman says she has come to love public speaking. “It showed me that I can speak in front of people and it was a huge confidence booster.” Gershman spent much of her high school career using her newfound talent to benefit others: interning for State Representative Ari Porth and moderating his Democracy in Action Leadership Forum last summer; coordinating Lessons of 9/11, which collected middle- and high-school essays and artwork for memorial displays in Broward public libraries; and winning the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce Bridge to Leadership Award.

            Similarly passionate for her community, Epstein was “looking to mesh my love of tennis and community service” when she organized a tournament to raise money for Camp Boggy Creek in Eustis, Florida, a camp for children under the age of seventeen with life-threatening or chronic illnesses. The tournament was a huge success, raising $13,000. And yet, Epstein was shocked to win the Silver Knight. She humbly stated, “All of the nominees were incredibly talented and really impressive, so I was definitely not expecting to win.”

            Barr and Levy have also been grand contributors in their community. Barr co-founded Helping others Promote Empathy, a program which collected books for schools following Hurricane Katrina, as well as Inspiration Mentoring, which teaches children sports and fine arts. She has realized early on that “It is in doing good for others that makes life worth living.” Over the last seven years, Levy has won Broward’s annual foreign language competition seven years, while also writing a bilingual children’s cookbook and volunteering at Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital.