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Persell Middle School Loves The Kiwanis Terrific Kids Program

Kiwanis Club of Jamestown member, Larry Brown, delivers the Kiwanis Terrific Kids Award for March to Persell Middle School seventh grader, Owen Slojkowski.

Persell Middle School has a monthly visitor who brings joy to students’ faces – Kiwanis Club of Jamestown member, Larry Brown, who has delivered the Kiwanis Terrific Kids news every single month (at every Jamestown middle school) since 1998.

“Mr. Brown has been a fixture at our middle schools for the past 20 years,” said Persell Principal Phil Cammarata. “He is so kind and enjoys interacting with the winners each month. We are very fortunate to have Mr. Brown and the Kiwanis Club of Jamestown, who keep honoring students month after month and year after year.”

Mr. Brown, who has been a member of Kiwanis since 1965 and Kiwanis Club of Jamestown since 1971, takes the students’ photos and gives them a form to fill out about their special interests for the newspaper. He also gifts each student with complimentary coupons from community businesses like McDonalds. Kiwanis Terrific Kids is an international student-recognition program that promotes character development, self-esteem and perseverance. “Terrific” is an acronym for Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Inclusive, Friendly, Inquisitive and Capable. It is a program that is meant to award students who are all-around great kids, but may not always be recognized for their efforts.

The best part of Mr. Brown’s volunteer job is seeing the kids’ faces when they receive the honor.

“The kids are surprised with the Terrific Kids Award. They are called down to the office and often they think they are in trouble,” said Mr. Brown. “When they find out it’s an award, the smiles on their faces are so wonderful to see. There aren’t as many young people in my life right now, so I especially like being around them and recognizing them for having such great character qualities. I also love Mr. Cammarata. He is a wonderful man and we get along so well. I just love doing the Terrific Kids each month.”

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