The Do the Right Thing of Charlotte County is proud to announce the winners of the May 2012-2013 program.
This will be our last program for this school year. We here at Do the Right thing of Charlotte County Hope you have a great and safe summer. We will see you all in September!!!
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Spencer Tenney a senior at Charlotte High School. He is the son of Andy and Christina Tenney.
Spencer was working at Cubby’s Ice Cream shop one night when a family came in just before closing. He served them and they sat outside to eat their ice cream. After they left, Spencer went outside to finish closing and he found a wallet on the ground. Inside the wallet was $400 in cash but no contact information. Spencer remembered that the family had called right before they came to make sure they were still open. So, he got the number from the phone and called the people back to let them know he had found the wallet. He then waited for the family to come back so he could give it to them.
Spence, we are so pleased to be able to report acts of honesty. So many times, police officers are dealing with situations where we had dishonest acts we need to investigate. Thank you so much for making our day and thank you for being so honest.
Spencer is the student government president at Charlotte High. He is a member of the varsity golf team and was a member of the wrestling team in the past. He is also part of the Tarpon Leadership Academy. Spencer loves outdoor activities , especially going to the beach with friends. He is also a strong A student at Charlotte High. Spencer recently volunteered to assist with the old times luncheon at Charlotte High.
In the fall, Spencer will be attending Florida State and will major in business.
We would like to welcome another Charlotte High student to our program. Please extend a huge welcome for Daniel Chomyszak, a ninth grader and the son of Tanya and Brent Chomyszak.
Daniel was nominated by an English teacher at Charlotte High who had this to say. “ I am an English teacher at Charlotte High School, and Daniel is a student in my class. During the second week of December Daniel approached me before his fourth hour class was to start and told me that he urgently needed to speak to me. He wanted me to step out into the hall so that he did not have to tell me in front of other students. When we got into the hall, Daniel told me that he had spotted a student carrying a gun in the courtyard during class exchange. I quickly escorted him to Mr. Russell, one of our deans, and Officer Schrader who were in the hall during the class change. Dan calmly told them what he had seen, giving a detailed description of the the student with the gun. Because of Daniel’s account, within minutes school officials were able to apprehend the young man who, indeed, did have what appeared to be a gun. As it turned out, the gun was a pellet gun, and the student with the gun had been given permission by his teacher to use it as a prop, for a presentation connected with his research project. Had this been a real threat, Daniel’s quick action and keen observation, might have prevented another school tragedy. The fact that a ninth grader had the foresight to tell me about this in private so as not to alarm others, and the fact that he was able to give such an accurate description of a student he did not know, was impressive.
Daniel is a member of the Charlotte High NJROTC, Silver King Band and the Jazz Band. He raises leopard getgo’s, loves to fish and is a karate expert. He is also about to receive his Eagle Scout award. Daniel built a prayer garden for his church and volunteered at the air show as well as various local food drives and clean Charlotte Harbor.
Our next recipient, Katie Redmann comes to us from the L.A. Ainger Middle School where she is in the eighth grade. Katie is the daughter of John and Christine Redmann and the sister of a previous DTRT recipient.
Katie is a student who volunteers with the Southeastern Guide Dogs organization. She doesn’t get paid but has easily put in over one hundred hours a month on the training of her guide dog. She is one of those smart girls who saw a dog being trained, looked into it, did research and said this is for me. She went to Palmetto and learned more. After the application process, she was selected as a trainer and received a 12 wk old black lab. When the dog is 14 months he will be sent to a more formal training. She is now applying for permission to take her dog to school one day a week as part of the process of getting the dog used to being around crowds.
Katie we are very proud of you. It must take a lot to become attached to a pet only to have to give it up and let someone else benefit from your training.
Katie is a straight A student at L.A. Aniger. She participates in club volleyball and loves horseback riding and photography.
Please help me welcome Steven Cloyd a Punta Gorda Middle School sixth grader. Steven is the son of Kellie Davids and Jeremiah Cloyd.
Steven is a very observant young man. On Saturday Feb 10 while on their way to a birthday party in North Port Steven noticed a fire on the side of 41 and told his dad about it. They turned around and went to where the fire was and were able to help assist an off duty fireman from Sarasota County put the fire out with the fire extinguisher his dad had in the truck, preventing a much bigger fire. As it was very windy that day this fire could have turned into a major event if it were not for the quick thinking of Steven.
Steven thanks for your quick thinking and your effort to extinguish the fire. We are very proud of you.
Steven plays clarinet for his schools band and also participates in both Pop Warner and Flag Football. He is a member of the schools honor society as well. He loves all kinds of sports, drawing and fishing.. He volunteered at his schools spring carnival and has also made food packets for the needy in Haiti.
Please welcome Denim Wilson our Overall winner for the May 2012 DTRT program. Denim is the son of Tana Wilson and attends Port Charlotte Middle School, where he is a seventh grader.
Denim Wilson has been working with Special Olympics Charlotte County since November of 2012, when he received a flyer at school listing upcoming activities. He immediately wanted to get involved in everything and began by helping out with basketball. Denim is only 14 years old but has a heart for helping people and immediately jumped in, helping both the athletes and coaches during the basketball season. When that was over, he started helping out with track and field, again immediately bonding with the athletes and coaches and proved to be a very capable and competent assistant. At our area games on April 6, 2013 at Charlotte High School, Denim was informed he would need to locate and check in Charlotte County’s athletes as well as direct and coach those athletes for track competition because all of our certified coaches were in charge of various venues. In spite of the fact that there were approximately 400 people at the high school from 5 different counties, he immediately stepped up, successfully locating and processing all of our athletes, gathering them together, and getting them to their respective venues on time. Not one of our athletes missed a race. Denim has proved an invaluable part of our team at a young age and I look forward to working with him for many years to come. He is an extraordinary young man already, one who offers his skills purely for the enjoyment of helping. It is refreshing to see a young person who is not intimidated or frightened by people with differences and treats them as equal to himself. This is the spirit of Special Olympics and Denim exhibits this spirit at every practice.
Congratulations Denim and thank you for carrying about others. Our world needs more people like you.
When not involved with the Special education activities, Denim loves intramurals at his school and he helps with an Alzheimer’s group in the community. He plays basketball at the Rec Center and gets good grades in school. He mows laws for neighbors, is active in his church and donates his unused items to charity.
Corporal Tony Pribble
School Resource Officer – PGMS
Punta Gorda Police Department
1410 Tamiami Trail
Punta Gorda, Florida 33950