DOWNEY - Three students were honored May 6 with the Downey Youth Service Award, a recognition sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Downey and Downey Patriot honoring the achievements of students both inside and outside the classroom.Darlene Svela, a junior at Downey High School, was honored along with twins Angel and Alex Amparan, fifth graders at Rio San Gabriel Elementary. Darlene has a 3.8 GPA and excels as a member of KIWIN'S, the youth service organization founded by Kiwanis. Darlene participates in beach clean-ups at Belmont Shore, volunteers with Keep Downey Beautiful and assists at the weekly swap meets at Downey High. She also volunteers at bingo events for seniors, tutors kids at a local elementary school, helped out at Kids Day and participated in the Build-A-Bear project benefiting underprivileged children. Alex is Rio San Gabriel's student council president and has been an honor roll student every reporting period. He has served his school as a school safety officer, and volunteers his time reading to kindergarten students. A member of two Rio San Gabriel Carnival of Champions teams, Alex wants to be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice when he grows up. Angel is secretary for Student Council and has also been on the honor roll every semester. He assists his Student Council teacher at the student store, and was a member of a winning team at the Carnival of Champions. His aspiration is to become an elementary school teacher working with special needs students.

********** Published: May 14, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 4