Cedar Rapids Rotary to honor high school seniors

CEDAR RAPIDS - In a February 1968 sermon in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told a congregation all he wanted said at his funeral was that he lived to serve.

'Everybody can be great because everybody can serve,” he said. 'You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. … You only need a heart full of grace.”

The Cedar Rapids Rotary Club will recognize eight high school students who model the principles espoused by the minister and civil rights activist at a Jan. 16 'Service Above Self Award” luncheon.

'These students, they're excellent students who best represent their respective schools and exhibit the values of Rotary and the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr.,” Cedar Rapids Rotary Vice President Mary Klinger said.

The students were nominated by administrators and teachers at their respective schools.

Zahra Aalabdulrasul, 18, Jefferson High School

While she's involved in many activities at Jefferson High, Aalabdulrasul said she's most proud of the beat poetry she performs outside of school.

'That's a different kind of service, but I feel like it's still a service,” Aalabdulrasul said. 'It brings attention to social issues that Americans should pay attention to.”

Usually, she said her poetry is about her experiences being Muslim or about racism in the United States.

'A lot of it is noticing how history repeats itself,” she said.

Aalabdulrasul said she also volunteers for service projects and spends time leading projects on student council.

'I'm just a person who has a lot of spirit,” she said. 'And I like helping others find that spirit.”

Val Caro, 17, Prairie High School

Aside from her work on the student council, National Honors Society and Key Club, Caro said she most enjoys mentoring fellow students who struggle academically at Prairie High's 'Success Center.”

'Helping others is a big passion of mine and it gives me a reward inside that nothing else can really do,” she said.

Prairie High Principal Erik Anderson said Caro's passion for all of Prairie's students makes her stand out to him.

'She is such a quality person,” Anderson said. 'She has a great personality that connects with many people, and she is one of the more inclusive students that we have here.”

Victoria Eniola, 18, Washington High School

Victoria Eniola 'sets a tone” that surpasses the expectations some might have of her, Washington High Principal Carlos Grant said.

'She has this really polite, respectful and diligent way of carrying herself,” Grant said. 'She's a natural leader in the building. She has this natural aura and essence of a leader.”

Eniola said she enjoys taking on leadership roles in team sports and in various school clubs, as well as pushing herself 'to the max” academically.

'I feel like it's my job to help people out and lead them in the right direction,” Eniola said. 'I feel like it's a calling.”

Lubna Hossain, 17, Linn-Mar High School

Receiving an award named for Martin Luther King, Jr. will be a special honor, Hossain said.

'I see Martin Luther King Jr. as such an advocate, especially as someone students like us, or anyone honestly, can reach out to for inspiration,” she said. 'Everyone should strive to be someone who is not afraid to say what's right do what's right.”

At school, Linn-Mar High Associate Principal Kim Buelt said Hossain is a 'quiet leader” who takes on leadership roles to help, instead of for the accolades.

'It's a little bit of everything,” Buelt said. 'She's got her fingers in a lot of different things, which is what makes her very unique.”

Johnson Mator, 18, Kennedy High School

'Johnson espouses personal characteristics that remind me of MLK,” Mator's counselor, Lori Clore, said in a statement. 'Class act on the football field and off. A leader who knows how to listen and reflect.”

Off the football field - where he's a senior linebacker - Mator said he is involved with a local chapter of Kappa League, an organization focused on developing young men's leadership skills.

'It teaches you leadership, and how to be a man. It helps young black men go through college,” Mator said, adding that he's volunteered for food drives and the Ronald McDonald House through Kappa League.

Alicia Miltner, 18, Xavier High School

'For me, the first thing is her commitment to making life better for other people,” Xavier High Principal Tom Keating said. 'We admire students who are involved and students who do things for others - Alicia has made it a passion of hers.”

The Xavier High senior said she started volunteering at St. Luke's Hospital four years ago as she considered a future career in medicine.

'I've always been really health conscious, and I've seen that there is a need to make people informed about health decisions,” Milter said. 'And, I just like meeting a bunch of people and hearing their stories.”

Andrew Mota, Marion High School

'His reserve and unassuming demeanor, his decency, his kindness” are traits Marion High Principal Greg Semler said he notices in Mota. 'He's just an impressive young man in terms of how he behaves among his peers. He's just incredibly gracious.”

Mota said he is very involved in his school's fine arts program, including show choir, concert band and jazz band.

He said he hopes his dedication to his schoolwork and extracurricular activities will set a foundation for his future.

'I feel like if you have that good start, (everything) builds off of it,' Mota said. 'If you don't work hard, it won't work out.”

Kyara Simmons, 17, Metro High School

'I just volunteer to anything I can,” Simmons said of her service work. 'It gives me the chance to help others out.”

Recently, she said she has delivered food to those who need it and helped build a swing set and slide at a park near her school.

'She is hardworking, caring, concerned with what other people are feeling and how their actions affect others,” Metro High Principal Brian Galusha said. 'She's always willing to take that next step to help people.”

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