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Seven earn Do The Right Thing honors

By Staff

The Cape Coral Police Department held its monthly Do The Right Thing award ceremony Wednesday at City Hall. Seven students were recognized.

Overall winner

– Madelyn Palmer, Kindergarten, Gulf Elementary, daughter of Melanie & Coby Palmer

Madelyn is being awarded for her “100th day of Kindergarten” project. Her inspiration began in September as she started learning about our soldiers during 9/11 coverage. She was amazed at the size of a flag pulled across a football field and asked her dad why they were doing that. He tried to explain to her that some bad guys hurt a lot of people and the soldiers are trying to keep the bad guys from hurting anyone else. When it came time for Madelyn’s 100-day project, it was no surprise that she wanted to thank the men and women overseas who wouldn’t see their loved ones for a long time in order to keep us safe. She made 100 greeting cards from construction paper with a note in each thanking our soldiers for keeping us safe. Madelyn signed all 100 cards and decorated each with flags, rainbows, hearts, ribbons and stars. She brought in two bags full of the precious cards to her classroom before she and her dad mailed them overseas.

– Emma Resendes, Kindergarten, Gulf Elementary, daughter of Mark & Rachelle Resendes

Mid-January marked the 100th day of attending school for Kindergarten students, which in itself is an accomplishment, but when paired with learning the skills of counting to 100, as well as counting by 2s, 5s and 10s, it’s a big occasion. At Gulf Elementary, the students are assigned a project that they work on at home using 100 of a certain item that they’ve collected or created. One of the teachers at Gulf Elementary tells me that this year she saw a lot of creative projects like toothpick teepees, goldfish crackers laid out in shapes, and a gumball machine filled with buttons. Emma’s efforts, though, benefitted others. Emma did 100 chores around the house including helping with the laundry and polishing furniture, and earned a quarter for each one completed. She made100 handwritten note cards explaining all the chores she completed then donated her 100 quarters to the Animal Refuge Center in order to help homeless animals.

– John Martorella, 8th grade, Gulf Middle, son of John & Lisa Martorella

Bullying is a widespread and serious problem that can happen in any school system or neighborhood and it can cause serious and lasting harm. John showed great character in mid-January by checking on the welfare of a schoolmate after the student had been the target of a cruel prank. Showing compassion, John not only checked on the young man’s welfare, but also showed his support by waiting for him after class and walking with him through the halls. The kindness John displayed was a comfort to the student and also showed his schoolmates that he was not going to allow this hurtful behavior. His actions show integrity and character.

Seven earn Do The Right Thing honors

By Staff

– Stephen Aranda, 8th grade, Challenger Middle, son of Veronica & Guillermo Aranda

– Jesus Mendez, 8th grade, Diplomat Middle, son of Freyre Mendez

On Dec. 9, a young man by the name of Mitchell, the son of one of our police sergeants, was playing on a tire swing with a friend in a vacant field down the street from his home. While they were playing, two older boys who were brothers approached and began to pick a fight with Mitchell who was much smaller than they were. During the fight, one of the brothers pulled out a Swiss Army knife. Two other neighbors who were across the street, Stephen Aranda and Jesus Mendez, saw the boys picking on Mitchell and heard the smaller brother say, “Want to fight?,” then “I’ll cut you up and I’ll stab you.” Stephen and Jesus yelled at the brothers, breaking up the fight, then escorted Mitchell home to safety. It is thanks to the observation skills of Stephen and Jesus and their willingness to get involved that Mitchell wasn’t injured.

– Mackenzie Chappell, 8th grade, Challenger Middle, daughter of Dan & Jessica Adcock

Mackenzie is being awarded for her compassion. On a daily basis, she goes to the special needs classroom at Cape Elementary and helps each child to complete his or her morning work. She understands that some students need more direction and more assistance and is able to help each child at his or her own level which is very difficult to do with the wide range of children in the classroom. She also picks up on other areas and skills that the students need help with, and assists wherever she can. She is very patient and kind to the students and truly enjoys being around and helping the younger children. Mackenzie has her sights set on being an elementary school teacher in the future.

– Paul Martin, 5th grade, Cape Elementary, son of Tamlyn Martin & Anthony Pizzi

Paul volunteers his time daily during dismissal to help the teachers at Cape Elementary with the Kindergarten students at parent pick-up, a new and sometimes upsetting concept to a Kindergarten student. Paul makes sure the children are sitting safely, listening for their name to be called, and looking for their car. He has taken it upon himself to learn each Kindergartener’s name and can identify each child’s car. Paul’s pleasing personality and positive attitude have gained him the respect of the students and they listen to him and follow his directions without hesitation. Paul has been an invaluable help, not only to the students, but also to the teachers at Cape Elementary School.