The Do The Right Thing of Coconut Creek Teacher of the Month was Tradewinds Elementary’s Donna Matthews. {Photos by Coconut Creek Police Department}
The Coconut Creek Police Do the Right Thing program honored a group of students and a teacher during the October 24 meeting.
According to Scotty Leamon, public information officer, Do the Right Thing is a non-profit organization that partners with the police department to recognize exemplary students and teachers who have gone above and beyond in helping others.
Donna Matthews, a first-grade teacher at Tradewinds Elementary School, was nominated by Officer Laura Sudman, the school resource officer, for helping a substitute teacher who had spilled hot water in her lap in the teachers’ lounge.
Matthews helped the woman remove burning clothing and applied a cold compress to the burned area on the woman’s body. She asked that others call 9-1-1 while she helped the woman. Officer Sudman was impressed by Mathews’ concern and effort.
Camryn Piskun, a senior at Monarch.
Officer Anthony Mancuso nominated Camryn Piskun, a senior at Monarch High School. She has enough credits to graduate high school, and all her courses this semester are college-level. She has a 5.3 GPA and has consistently earned straight As.
Piskun has completed 300 hours of community service and lettering in softball, soccer, and cheerleading at Monarch. She is a member of five after-school clubs and is president of the school’s National Honor Society. Her goal is to attend the University of Florida.
Roberto Rodriguez, a 4th grader at Tradewinds.
Officer Sudman nominated Roberto Teco Rodriguez, a fourth grader at Tradewinds Elementary School. He holds the unofficial title of Ambassador of Good Deeds.
Sudman struck up a friendship with Rodriguez and one day challenged him to devise an idea to get kids interested in service, where they could earn a reward for a good deed. Rodriguez led his classmates in trash pick-ups on the playgrounds and other outdoor areas. He earned the trust of the other students and became known as an ambassador.
According to Sudman, the school’s outdoor areas are much cleaner, and Rodriguez may soon be named the “King” of Tradewinds Elementary School.
Tradewinds Elementary School 4th grader Savannah Edwards.
Savanah Edwards, a fourth grader at Tradewinds Elementary School, was nominated by Keelyn Meselohn, a former teacher. She was nominated because she was the first to stand up for Meselohn’s son, Ethan.
Ethan is on the Autism Spectrum and has special needs in speech and other areas that make it hard for him to make friends. Savannah began taking an interest in Ethan, reading books and rolling a ball to him. This impressed Meselohn because no other student had spent time with Ethan. He referred to Savannah as his best friend, and she reads to him every day. She also walked side-by-side with him to class until he overcame his fear of walking to class. Savanah was nominated because of her kindness and character.
Coconut Creek Elementary School 5th grader Albert Breznyan
Albert Breznyan, a fifth grader at Coconut Creek Elementary School, was nominated by his fourth-grade teacher, Jeanne Yun, last year. She nominated him because he always works hard in class and is kind, responsible, and tenacious academically. He missed several school days last year and worked hard to catch up.
Monarch High School freshman Lara Vitorino.
Lara Vitorino, a freshman at Monarch, was nominated by Office Mancuso, a school resource officer. A girl dropped a food tray at lunch before her classmates, and many people laughed at her. Lara helped her pick up the food and arranged to get her something else. For this reason, Mancuso nominated her.
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