PIE student nominated for Do the Right Thing award
Pine Island Elementary School third grader Aaliya Swenson already has a multitude of interests. In addition to participating in art projects and writing books, for which she’s already won awards, Swenson has been nominated for the Do the Right Thing Award, by the school’s SRO, Cpl. Willie Rivera, when he saw that she made a priority to care for the animals at the local Helping Paws Shelter.
Swenson said she was nominated for wanting to give her teacher, Mrs. Benjamin, a “Meowy Christmas,” by getting necessities together for the shelter.
“We were running low on supplies, so I wanted to give her and the cats a little surprise,” said Swenson.
Supplies provided by Swenson included cat food, cleaning supplies and kitty litter. She has been volunteering at the shelter since she was in the second grade.
Swenson, who wanted a cat of her own, boasts that she now has 175 of them, thanks to her job at the shelter, where she shares a special relationship with a feline named “Dovey.”
Swenson’s grandmother, Claudia Swenson, who also works at the school, said she and grandpa are very proud of their granddaughter’s commitment to her work at the shelter.
“She’s also on the A Honor Roll,” said her grandmother. “She actively maintains her grades and is very helpful.”
Swenson took first place, as a second grader, for the Aspiring Authors Award, for a two-part story she wrote about a girl and a unicorn. Her love for writing, said her grandmother, is accompanied by a long-time love for reading.
“I’m very good at makeup,” said Swenson, who admits she enjoys dabbling in “Ugly Makeup” contests with friends, to be comical, and also likes to go mudding with a four-wheeler for fun when she travels up north with her grandparents.
“I’m very excited to get this award,” said Swenson. “It brought me a lot of happiness.”
Rivera, who has been working with Swenson, sent this letter of recommendation that Swenson receive the award:
“Aaliya has been volunteering at the Cat Sanctuary located at 10060 Mallory E. Parkway, in St. James City. Aaliya has been doing this since the second grade and has been doing it with our 5th grade teacher Mrs. Benjamin. Aaliya has always wanted a cat and she says that she now has 175 due to her volunteering at the sanctuary. Aaliya knew that it would take a lot of food to feed that many cats, so she thought it would be nice to start a collection and has collected food and supplies to give to the sanctuary. Aaliya said that she wanted the cats to have a Merry little Christmas.
“Aaliya came up with the idea, she created CHEERFUL signs and placed them in the teacher’s lounge and emailed the staff and was able to collect supplies to present them to Mrs. Benjamin to be dropped off at the sanctuary.
“Aaliya was able to accomplish all of this while maintaining and keeping up with all her school work. I spoke with her teacher and found out that Aaliya is carrying A’s and B’s in class during her volunteering and collecting supplies. Aaliya has gone above and beyond her normal duties as a 3rd grade student and I take great pleasure in nominating her for the Do The Right thing Award.”
The principal and staff at Pine Island Elementary are proud of her accomplishments. She displayed what hard work and determination can do.
“Aaliya is an amazing young lady that has gone above and beyond,” said Pine Island Elementary School Principal Tom Millins. “I am so proud of her efforts initiating a project like the one she did for the community. She is amazing and I am so proud to have her as a student at Pine Island Elementary School.”