2017 Award Winner
2019 Award Winner

Student Service Recognition Award 2018

Sharing Love of Reading and Writing

Willa Shakespeare is worthy of our Student Social Service Award! Willa is the youngest of three girls and is the daughter of a school reading specialist and a counselor. Both of her parents work hard in service jobs, and her two sisters do community service yearly as well.

In kindergarten, Willa learned to read, and by the middle of the year she was reading big books to the class, often using a pointer as she'd seen her teacher do. She became a voracious reader and loved reading to her peers who enjoyed listening to her read. She read with fluency and a joy of telling the story.

This past year, in first grade, Willa continued reading with a passion and was invited by the kindergarten teachers to read to many of the kindergarten classes. She enjoyed that so much and would even ask if there were any questions at the end of the book. Once, she was asked by a student how she knew how to read so well. She told the kindergartener that she learned that each letter makes a sound, and once she learned the sounds of each letter, she could put those sounds together to make words.

As a first grader, Willa began writing stories. Her stories were so thoughtul and exciting that her teacher entered her in the KLRU Kids Writers 2018 Contest where she won 3rd place, out of 130 entries, for her story entitled "The Scared Teddy Bear." It can be found on the website www.klrukidswritesrcontest.org under the First Grade Writers tab, Willa S.

Willa was invited to read her story aloud to the student body at a weekly assembly of her public school, Patton Elementary School in Austin, TX. She read her story aloud with pride and excitement to 980 students. Willa not only enjoys sharing her love of reading and writing with others, but also she is a generous girl who enjoys helping others as much as sharing. She participates in service projects with her family, engaging in hands-on projects throughout the year.

Co-Chairs for the Student Service Recognition Award for 2018: Charyl Nelson and Denise Stuart.