Weston and Wayland students combine sports and volunteering

Alyssa Azzam is a high-achieving Girl Scout, a leader at the Weston High School store, and coxswain and mentor to middle school athletes with the Wayland-Weston Rowing Association.

She earned her Silver Award as a Girl Scout in September 2017. Her project was to spread awareness of pet ownership to improve people’s lives. The Weston Council on Aging hosted a community event organized by Azzam to present the benefits of having a pet, which included a question-and-answer session with Dr. Kimberly Heald of Weston Veterinary Clinic. Azzam shared how a pet could become a member of the family, be a great companion, and help alleviate loneliness and isolation.

At Weston High School, Azzam is a volunteer manager at the high school store, and she helps produce screen-printed shirts for school groups and teams. As a member of DECA, she relates this hands-on experience in a school-based enterprise to classroom instruction about leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Corey Guerra, faculty advisor for DECA, credits Azzam for “taking the lead to revitalize the school store. She has seen the benefits of having the store open both as a social area of students as well as the financial aspects of running the store. She has succeeded with recruitment, marketing and organization. I have come to trust her ideas and rely on her to get things done.”

Azzam recently joined the Wayland-Weston varsity girls crew team as a coxswain and volunteer. She volunteers weekly in-season with the Middle School Rowing camp.

Paul Hoffman, head coach for the middle school crew, said, “Alyssa shares her love of the sport. She is patient and firm with the kids, and an excellent influence on this next generation of athletes. We rely on her to help our program to succeed and to extend our influence into the larger community.”

Reflecting on her motivation for serving her communities, Azzam said, “I have always enjoyed having teachers who are passionate about their work and who use that interest to teach others. By choosing subjects that I am passionate about, such as crew and animals, I hope to share my knowledge with others and I hope that my enthusiasm carries into my interactions with them.”

Jason Haims of Wayland was nominated by Weston High School junior Eleni Polymeros. Both are volunteers and leaders with the Heated Lions Basketball program, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and young adults with intellectual disabilities.

“Jason is the volunteer coordinator,” said Polymeros, “which means he manages everything from sending emails informing the other volunteers when practices and games will be to making sure there are enough volunteers to help out at every practice. He attends practice every week, helping out and making sure the athletes are having a good time.”

Ernie Parent, president of the Heated Lions organization, said, “Jason is one of the volunteers who stands out each week. Every week, he takes the initiative to make sure all the adults with disabilities have someone to work with. He goes out to recruit new volunteers, which shows how passionate he is about our organization and the kids/adults who play each week. Each year, we invite three high school juniors to join the board to serve one term. I’ll be asking Jason to join us for the coming year.”

Haims’ reward comes from the reactions from the children he helps. “It makes me really happy when they run up to me and give me a hug or something when they see me, because I know how happy I’m making them. I find that it’s really nice to develop relationships with the kids I work with.”

Along with his role with the Heated Lions, Haims volunteers as a “buddy” to children with special needs who are learning to play baseball through the Weston Baseball Challenger League. Haims has been doing this since he was in fourth grade.

Extending his work with students and sports, Haims volunteers every week in the spring at Wayland High School to teach Wayland students in the METCO program how to swim.

In addition to working with students, Haims has a strong admiration and respect for military heroes and veterans, which he combines with his passion for fly fishing. He volunteers with Project Healing Waters at the Bedford VA Hospital, teaching veterans about fly fishing and how to tie flies.

The Rotary Rising Youth Leadership Award program identifies community-oriented students with leadership potential. They are encouraged to apply to represent Wayland and Weston at the 2019 Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, a leadership conference at Fitchburg State University on June 28 to 30. In previous years, approximately 200 students, along with 200 volunteers, take part in this weekend conference.

The Weston Wayland Rotary Club has numerous events in April that are open to anyone as a volunteer or attendee. If you would like to learn more about the Rotary Club or join the club for any upcoming event or weekly club gathering visit westonwaylandrotary.com.