They care a lot: Area students receive Caring Awards

Hannah Bonville, a senior at Lawrence High School, and Stephanie Miloscia, a Notre Dame High senior from East Windsor, were among the recepients of the annual honor

By: Rosalie Ann LaGrutta
   Kudos!
   Two area students, Stephanie Miloscia, a senior at Notre Dame High School, and Hannah Bonville, a senior at Lawrence High School, were among the students honored at the 21st-annual Caring Awards breakfast, held at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor on May 9. Twenty three middle and high school students won awards at the event, which was sponsored by the Mercer County Professional Counselors Association, which is comprised of school counselors throughout Mercer County.
   Hannah, 18, has been involved in many volunteer projects, among them SAVE (Students Against Violating Earth), which participates in various area cleanup projects. The 18-year-old also does tutoring inside and outside of school, specializing in math, she said.
   Many of Hannah’s volunteer hours are spent working for Wild Life Rehabilitation in Eastham, Mass., where she spent her spring break. "We do patient (animal) admissions among other tasks," she said. "We take animals that have been hurt and injured. For example, we’ll take in a bird that has been attacked by a house cat or any wild animal that has been hit by a car or injured in some other way. Injuries are assessed and the Wild Care Hospital for Wild Animals even has an intensive care unit if needed."
   Overall, Hannah has put in over 300 hours of volunteer work at Wild Care alone.
   "It seems I’m always drawn to environmental causes," she said. "But I do my best to spread my efforts to human causes as well."
   She has volunteered in the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), walked for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) research and helped to restore a nature path that had been destroyed by storms.
   Besides her causes, Hannah concentrates on her studies in her final year of high school, plays cello in the school orchestra and in the pit orchestra for all the school plays. She plans on continuing her education at The University of Pittsburgh Honors College, where she is looking to study human science and genetics or environmental sciences, she said. She said she hopes to continue her volunteerism in college.
   Stephanie’s guidance counselor at Notre Dame, Rose Stevenson, said that when selecting recipients for this award, counselors look at the student’s hours of service and leadership in service. "Stephanie has over 300 hours of service, is a peer leader, a co-founder of (the Notre Dame High chapter of) Operation Smile, a cheerleader, and plays in competition soccer," Ms. Stevenson said.
   Stephanie, also 18, is a member of the honor-service class, the counselor said, of which only 40 students are selected. They plan and organize service opportunities for the entire Notre Dame student body of 1,300 students, Ms. Stevenson said.
   Other projects that Stephanie took charge of included Big Brothers-Big Sisters at Slackwood Elementary School, Mercer County Head Start, the Katzenbach School for the Deaf, making lunches for the poor, the Senior Citizen prom held recently at Notre Dame and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
   An East Windsor resident, Stephanie said she plans to attend Rider University in the fall. "I enjoy all the volunteering that I do and hope to continue throughout college," she said.
   Ms. Stevenson described Stephanie as modest and quiet. "She never wants the attention," she said.
   Hannah’s guidance counselor, Doreen Welsh said, when selecting recipients for the Caring Award, "we look for the student who goes above and beyond in community involvement, a student who is dedicated to school."
   "And is generally a good person," Ms. Welsh added.