By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER – Published: April 27, 2009
Two area teens are used to putting out fires, but they’re not used to getting awards for it.
Gov. James Douglas changed that by recognizing Danby’s Angelica Towsley and Pittsford’s Cody Hesse as two of this year’s outstanding community servants for their work as firefighters and members of an award-winning, national substance-abuse and prevention program.
Towsley and Hesse, both students in Stafford Technical Center’s Public Safety Services Program, have been battling blazes for more than a year while gaining numerous college credits for other types of outreach – ensuring drivers are buckled up and child seats are safely installed.
Towsley, 17, and Hesse, 18, accompanied their parents to Montpelier and received their 2009 Outstanding Volunteer Community Service Awards – two of 92 recipients this year.
“The awards are given to individuals, groups and businesses that best exemplify the spirit of volunteerism,” said Emily Wilson of the Vermont Commission on National and Community Service.
Instructor John D’Esposito called his public safety students the epitome of what going “above and beyond” is all about.
“They spent hundreds of hours of their own time in freezing cold weather, at night in the dark, in hazardous situations, and have continued on as successful students … their whole life is about serving others,” D’Esposito said.
“If you asked yourself who would you want your neighbor to be, these kids would be it and it doesn’t matter that they’re 17 and 18.”
In a classroom last week, Towsley and Hesse posed with a card made by members of their group Students Against Destructive Decisions that’s placed in the pockets of tuxedos owned by many formal shops in Rutland County during prom season, according to D’Esposito.
The card lists the costs of individual prom necessities, from a limo ride to a dress, and the coordinating tab for what it would cost if the students got caught driving drunk decked out in their prom night best.
The creation has inspired a national model, D’Esposito said.
Towsley, a National Honor Society student and East Dorset volunteer firefighter who takes classes at Mill River Union High School and Stafford, said the highlight of her community service over the years wasn’t just one project, for her, it was going back and forth between them.
“I came from a fire and immediately after, changed into my dress for the Honor Society induction,” said Towsley, who has completed 22 college credits before graduating high school while holding a steady job.
“(Volunteerism) gets you out in the community,” she said. “It keeps you out of trouble and gives you things to do.”
For Hesse, the past two years have been filled with nothing less than something to do.
While making his way through the Vermont Police Academy as a junior cadet, Hesse maintained an active membership with the Pittsford Fire Department and put hundreds of hours of work into rebuilding the Pittsford Food Shelf for his Eagle Scout project.
He built shelves for the food shelf and stocked them.
He learned how to battle blazes and fundraise to keep the department up and running.
Hesse, who plans to be a police officer, said he welcomed the award for a simple reason.
“Just the fact that I’m being recognized for what I’ve done for the community,” he said.
Towsley’s and Hesse’s selfless contributions to their communities signifies a statewide trend — according to a recent report, Vermont ranks high on the list of American states with the biggest population of 16- to 18-year olds volunteering in recent years.
Roughly 46 percent of Vermonters in those two age groups volunteered in 2006 and 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau information and a survey conducted by Tufts University.