Glen student wins leadership award and a signed puck
Shannon Marie Rooney cherishes memento signed by Owen Nolan
By Jessica Lyons
Shannon Marie Rooney holds a silver trophy cup, a memento of the 1999 Eighth Grade Leadership Award she won from the Seagate Technology/Sharks Foundation. But for Shannon, a "huge Sharks fan," the real prize was an autographed hockey puck, signed by her favorite Owen Nolan.
"It was very nice unless you were sitting next to her when she started screaming after she realized it was signed by Owen Nolan," jokes Tab Taber, Willow Glen Middle School assistant principal and eighth grade advisor.
Rooney, a Willow Glen Middle School eighth-grader, just smiles. She received the trophy, puck and four tickets to a Sharks game at an awards dinner April 12 in the San Jose Arena.
"They pulled me out of sixth period and told me I had won the leadership award," Shannon says. "I was so happy and excited."
The Leadership award, presented in conjunction with the Office of Education in both Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties, is given to one eighth grader at each of the 53 participating schools who excels in academic and social achievement and peer leadership. Shannon certainly fits the bill. A member of student government and the cheerleading squad, she helps plan sixth-grade orientation, while balancing a full load of classes--leadership, advanced math, social studies, English, science, PE and Spanish--with straight As.
Sometimes it's a difficult balance, she admits, but mostly, "It's just fun."
Willow Glen Middle School faculty picked Shannon "because of her upbeat attitude, the countless hours of leadership she has dedicated to the school, her excellent grades," Principal Lois Allen rattles off. "She helps sell dance tickets, she helps run the student store, all things to show how trustworthy she is. She's a model young woman."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
