DECATUR — Two Decatur students received the Kiwanis Youth Excellence Award from the Bentonville and Bella Vista Kiwanis Clubs.
The awards were presented during a formal banquet on April 30. Each year the clubs award students from each school district in northwest Arkansas who have overcome hardship to excel, according to Decaturteacher LaVone Foreman.
Decatur senior Jeramiah Stuthers and eighth-grade student Noemi Garcia were nominated for the award by their teachers.
Stuthers has multiple handicaps, and his teacher Anita Warren and teacher’s aide Karen Maxwell said he was nominated because of his positive outlook and because he has excelled within his capabilities.
They described him askind hearted, good natured, polite and independent.
Foreman said she nominated Garcia because she was able to keep her grades up and take over her family’s household responsibilities after hermother died at the beginning of the school year.
“She has worked really hard to overcome the obstacles in her life,” Foreman said.
Community, Pages 10 on 05/23/2012