Lockport student honored by NY State Bar Association for community

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), May 24, 2004 by Staff

Kristen Ray, a senior at Lockport High School is one of 12 high school students, representing each of New York's judicial districts, to receive the 2004 High School Community Service Awards, presented by The New York Bar Foundation in partnership with the New York State Bar Association and the Law, Youth and Citizenship Program.

These young men and women represent the best and brightest of many outstanding students throughout the state who were nominated this year, said Robert L. Haig, president of The New York Bar Foundation. They have an exceptional ability to combine academic excellence with an unwavering commitment to helping others, and deserve to be recognized for their achievements before their schools, families and local communities.

The awards will be presented to students by members of the NYSBA's Committee on Citizenship Education at individual awards ceremonies at their respective schools. Students will receive a plaque and a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond.

This year's winners include:

* Kevin Bowles, a junior at Regis High School in Manhattan;

* Charles Sineri, a sophomore at Tottenville High School in Staten Island;

* Maureen Stutzman, a senior at Albany High School in Albany;

* Kimberly E. Garrison, a senior at Canajoharie Central School in Canajoharie;

* Nadirah F. Blassingame, a senior at Thousand Islands High School in Clayton;

* Vanessa Saba, a junior at Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School in Cherry Valley;

* Jeremy J. Feil, a junior at the Arkport Central School District in Arkport;

* Ray, a senior at Lockport High School in Lockport;

* Ashley Tallevi, a junior at Rye Neck High School in Rye Neck;

* Josue F. Barahona, a senior at Hempstead High School in Hempstead;

* Diana R. Rayappa, a senior at Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood; and

* Cassandra Jean Moreno, a junior at the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice.

The New York Bar Foundation, the charitable and philanthropic arm of the state bar, has sponsored the High School Community Service Awards Program since 1987. The foundation was created in 1950 to facilitate the delivery of legal services, enhance professional competence and ethics, increase public understanding of the law, and improve the justice system.

Each year, it provides more than $300,000 in grants - almost all of it the result of voluntary contributions from NYSBA members - to fund programs that provide direct legal services for low-income persons, to educate high school students about the justice system, and inform New Yorkers about their legal rights and responsibilities.