2023 DAR Good Citizen Awards and Scholarships

Submitted to the Globe-News
·3 min read

The Esther McCrory Chapter, Amarillo, Texas, National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution recently honored 13 area high school seniors as DAR Good Citizens.

DAR Good Citizens Awards are given to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship. The first award was given in 1934, continues now for the 89th year both nationally and locally. This award recognizes and rewards high school seniors who possess good citizenship qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism in their homes, schools, and communities. These students are selected because they demonstrate these qualities to an outstanding degree and are named DAR Good Citizens. Each Good Citizen receives a certificate, pin, wallet identification card, poster explaining the significance of the pin, small American flag, a copy of the US Flag Code booklet, and a red, white, and blue honor cord which can be worn with the graduation cap and gown.

Esther McCrory Chapter in Amarillo, National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution 2023 DAR Good Citizen Awards presented at Saint Paul Methodist Church on Feb. 6. Front row, from left: Isaiah Brown, Boys Ranch HS; Sidney Perkins, Randall HS; Cash Kanally, West Plains HS; Mia Crawford, Ascension Academy; Ella McCown, Amarillo HS; Maison Guerra, Canyon HS. Second row: Anna Monroe, Holy Cross Catholic Academy; Emily Carlson, Vega HS; Harleigh Garrett, Bushland HS. Third row: Mercedes Harton, Highland Park HS; Ann Schoen, Chapter Regent; Jeanne Ann Gibson, Chapter Vice Regent and Good Citizen Chair; Derek Clark, San Jacinto Christian Academy. Back row: Cecilia Udoh, Palo Duro HS; Diego Vega, Claude HS.

The newly named Good Citizens may choose to enter the scholarship contest by submitting a personal statement of their activities and accomplishments in high school, participation, and interest in their community, and writing a timed essay, all of which are scored by a panel of non-DAR judges. The 2022-23 essay title was “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It” with a focus question: “How will the essential actions of a good citizen (dependability, service, leadership and patriotism) meet the challenges that America faces in this decade?”

Three Good Citizens were awarded scholarships from the Esther McCrory Chapter of NSDAR. Amarillo High School’s Good Citizen Ella McCown received the first-place scholarship in the amount of $300. Bushland High School’s Good Citizen Harleigh Garrett received the second-place scholarship in the amount of $225. Holy Cross Catholic Academy’s Good Citizen Anna Monroe received the third-place scholarship in the amount of $200.

2023 DAR Good Citizens

  • Amarillo High School — Ella Anne McCown, 1st place scholarship of $300

  • Ascension Academy — Mia McCall Crawford

  • Boys Ranch High School — Isaiah Drake Brown

  • Bushland High School — Harleigh Anson Garrett, 2nd place scholarship of $225

  • Canyon High School — Maison Faith Guerra

  • Claude High School — Diego Ivan Vega

  • Highland Park High School — Mercedes Nicole Harton

  • Holy Cross Catholic Academy — Anna Yvonne Monroe, 3rd place scholarship of $200

  • Palo Duro High School — Cecilia Athanatius Udoh

  • Randall High School — Sidney Dianne Perkins

  • San Jacinto Christian Academy — Derek Lynn Clark

  • Vega High School — Emily Grace Carlson

  • West Plains High School — Cash Samuel Kanally, first Good Citizen for the new high school

Esther McCrory Chapter Regent is Ann Schoen. Jeanne Ann Gibson serves as Vice Regent and Good Citizens Award Chair. The Chapter was founded on April 11, 1911, in Amarillo. The DAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America's future through better education for children. Any woman 18 years or older-regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background-who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution, is eligible for membership.

For more information on becoming a member of Daughters of the American Revolution, contact Chapter Regent Ann Schoen at 806-383-3998 or email aschoen@suddenlink.net.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: 2023 DAR Good Citizen Awards and Scholarships