Four students from Conestogo Public School have been honoured for their positive influence on their communities.
Jakob Geimer, Jessica Schmidt, Blake Roemer and Hadley Mustakas were announced as this year’s recipients of the Conestogo-Winterbourne Optimist Club’s Student Appreciation awards.
The recognition has been awarded to the two Grade 4 and two Grade 8 students that best exemplify Optimist Internationals creed.
The creed asks club members and award recipients to be strong, to talk health, happiness and prosperity, to make friends feel that there is something in them, to look at the sunny side of everything, to think of only the best, to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as they are about their own, to forget the mistakes of the past, to wear a cheerful countenance at all times, to give time to improvement, and to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Conestogo PS principal Brian Beney says the students who receive the award aren’t flashy in their positivity, and live the creed everyday.
![The Conestogo-Winterbourne Optimist Club handed out their Student Appreciation awards to Conestogo Public School students Blake Roemer, Hadley Mustakas (back), Jakob Geimer and Jessica Schmidt (front).[Liz Bevan / The Observer]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/news_optimistaward_post.jpg)
“These are the students that, in their quietness, their humility and in their strength as individuals and their character, are not complainers. They are always hopeful and optimistic,” he said. “That is the kind of student that gets the award.”
Geimer was one of the Grade 4 students to receive the award, and he says he thinks he got it because he is helpful and positive.
“I try not to be rude and I try to be nice to adults and students,” he said. “I try to help people.”
His mother was in on the surprise award and tricked him by pretending he was in trouble.
“I was very happy,” he said. “My mom surprised me. She said, ‘Jakob Geimer,’ and sounded all sad, then she was like, ‘congratulations!’”
Roemer is one of the two Grade 8 students to win the award, and he says he believes it was because he is upbeat. He recommends that other students try to follow that example.
“I try to be nice to people and I just try to have a happy life and a positive attitude,” he said. “It is a rewarding attitude to have and it improves the way you look at life.”
After the awards were announced, the students were the guests of honour at the local Optimist Club’s monthly dinner. The school also put their names up on the sign on the street for a week, and will be honoured once again at a year-end assembly and at Grade 8 graduation ceremonies in June.
For more information on the Conestogo-Winterbourne Optimist Club, visit www.optimist.org.
