Kerrigan Clem, an eighth-grader at Southampton Middle School, who has been a mentor to fellow students, received a Student Achievement Award from the Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners Monday evening.
Kerrigan has taken on leadership roles at her school, serving on the 8th Grade Advisory Council assisting the assistant principal and other students focus on real-time concerns and improving her school's climate, according to her award certificate. Last year, she served on the Superintendent's Advisory Council, providing feedback to Harford County Public Schools leaders regarding student concerns.
The certificate also notes that Kerrigan is "a academically high achieving student but she also encompasses personal characteristics not often found in an eighth grade student." She has served as a peer perspective on her education and the world around her.
Kerrigan is also a gifted athlete, working year-round on her basketball skills.
"With every role Kerrigan takes on, she is reliable, consistent and unwavering," the town award certificate states. "Kerrigan's maturity and goal oriented drive will continue to take her in a positive direction. She is invested in her education and has a clear vision for the future."
Kerrigan was accompanied by family members to the town meeting, where she received her award from Mayor Robert Reier.
"You've set the bar high," Reier told her. "We are expecting great things from you."
Egg hunt, Kite Day coming
Rockfield Manor's Annual Easter Egg Hunt will be Saturday, March 28, at 11 a.m. at 501 E. Churchville Road.
Grab a basket and join Rockfield for this fun, family event, town officials said. The egg hunt takes place behind the manor. Admission is $5 per family and parking is free.
"It's a good time – all [of] about two minutes," Reier said with a chuckle about the time it take for kids to find eggs that he noted probably take a day to hide.
The 10th annual Bel Air Kite Festival will be held Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, at the Rockfield Park ballfields at East Churchville Road and South Shamrock Road.
The festival offers kite flying for kids of all ages and is sponsored by the Town of Bel Air and APG Federal Credit Union. Admission is free. The rain date is April 12.
Reier said this year's festival will be "bittersweet" because it will be the last for festival founder and organizer Allen Ault, who Reier said is stepping down from his volunteering role.
Ault will be going out with a bang, however, working with APGFCU to provide 500 free kites, Reier said, also warning that those kites will be given away fast.
The festival has become a rite of spring for Bel Air, Reier and the other commissioners said, pointing out it draws hundreds of participants, many from out of town.