High School Good Citizens

Shirley Stirling

It’s not that he’s a top student – though he is. It’s not that he pushes himself academically – though he does. And it’s not that he excels in sports and the arts – though that’s the case. Reagan Broome’s discipline and excellence also include a devotion to helping others and working as a volunteer in activities that contribute to making the world a better place. He has been awarded the local Good Citizen Scholarship.

Good Citizen Award Program

The national DAR Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Contest, created in 1934, is intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship, dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. US citizenship is not required. It has long operated out of Thurston County, at least since 1938. Initially, for girls only, boys were also included starting in 1975.

Each high school may recognize one senior per year as their Good Citizen and each Good Citizen locally may (but need not) apply for a Good Citizen scholarship, $500 in this jurisdiction. One nominee goes to the state to vie for another scholarship and then to the national level, with the top awardee receiving a $2,500 scholarship and being invited to the annual DAR Continental Congress in Washington, DC.

At least two Olympia students were recognized in Washington, DC, with a national scholarship, in 1985 (John G. Scharf) and 1992 (Chad Heath).

This year the annual Good Citizen Tea in Olympia also included awards for a new program, the Patriots of the American Revolution Essay Contest. The Patriot Essay Contest was covered last Friday in JOLT. The event was attended by about 35 people and held on Monday, February 13, 2023, at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Julien Bancroft-Connors won the Patriot Essay Contest and Reagan Broome won the Good Citizen scholarship.

Local schools participating in Good Citizen were: AG West Black Hills, Oakville, Olympia, Shelton, Timberline, Toledo, and Tumwater.

The students awarded as their high school’s designated Good Citizen included: Natalie Alleman, Oakville High School; Reagan Broome, Tumwater High School; Candace Clark, Toledo High School; Laura Free, River Ridge High School; Katelyn Gilstrap, Morton Jr/Sr High School; and Trinity Tafoya, Tenino High School. Good Citizen co-chairs Cindy Fazio and Penny Chatfield were very pleased with the excellent high school representatives.

All seven students opted to participate in the scholarship contest, providing a packet with a personal profile, future plans, academic transcripts, community service accomplishments, and two letters of recommendation.

They also submitted an essay on the subject of, Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving. It specifically addresses the question, “How will the essential actions of a good citizen (dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism) meet the challenge that America faces in this decade?” The contest does not require library or computer research. Instead, the student sits down in a chaperoned room without resources and is presented with the question in a sealed envelope. Each student creates and writes an essay on the spot within a prescribed timeframe. “I love the way this contest was structured,” exclaimed Reagan.

Reagan Broome, holds a 4.0 GPA, is first in class, and has a transcript filled with Advanced Placement honors and college courses. He is the ASB Vice President, varsity track, 4-year varsity starter in golf (started at age 10), competitive acapella, and acted in plays and lead in the class musical. Reagan plans to attend a yet-to-be-determined university in the fall to study mechanical engineering.

His volunteer activities include:

At church, he sings and plays the piano and guitar, along with volunteering as a youth student leader. Since his freshman year, he has devoted 400 hours to this work.

During Covid remote learning, he worked in the building to support students in math and science who were struggling with both the content and Internet access. He created a peer-tutoring service and since then has mentored in math classes. He has worked with other students with patience, caring, and compassion.

He helps run assemblies and serves as the ASB Vice President.

He created the T-Bird News on YouTube through his leadership class. He edits this program, scripts it, edits, produces weekly announcements, and occasionally appears on the show. The program covers the upcoming school week and fun topics also, such as the top-five favorite candies and shout-outs for accomplishments and to students who have been especially kind.

He has a personal project, which he calls Project 18, in which he is in the process of interviewing a total of 18 older people, ten so far, with an initial question of, “What do you wish you knew when you were 18?”

Regan Broome and all the Good Citizens from our local high schools are totally awesome and inspiring. They give us hope for the future – let’s support our kids in every way we can!

Shirley Stirling, of Lacey, writes about good things people in Thurston County are doing. If you’d like to nominate someone to be profiled, contact her at shirley@theJOLTnews.com or comment below.