Marissa Citro, Romig Middle School
2011 Student STAR Award winner
 Marissa Citro has been impressing teachers and peers alike at Begich Middle School since she enrolled there in 2008. She is an eighth grader who has already built an impressive resumé that includes National Junior Honor Society secretary, Jazz Band, SBP webmaster, PACE, news director of the Begich Broadcast News, and barista of the school's café. After school, she can be found at piano lessons, modern dance classes, and Girl Scouts.
Marissa was one of the original members of the 2009-10 SBP class at Begich. She began as a teleprompter for the Begich Broadcast News, and showed competency and leadership skills almost immediately. When it was time for the class members to apply for new jobs within the class, she applied as Director of the Broadcast News. She was only a seventh-grader when she earned this strong leadership role, and she competently tackled the job of producing a daily news broadcast. She filled in when employees were absent, double-checked details before filming, conducted "staff" meetings with her peer employees, and attended a weekly meeting with teachers to create goals for the following week.
Now in eighth grade, Marissa is currently a repeat student in the SBP class. She was hired as a barista in the school's café and serves as the SBP webmaster. In the webmaster role, she updates Begich's partnership information, takes pictures at events that include business partners, acts as a liaison between the SBP class and business partners, and writes thank you cards for business partners' support.
Marissa displays these same leadership characteristics in other school organizations and activities.
Marissa's job as the secretary for National Junior Honor Society gives her an opportunity to practice her organizational skills, build an agenda, and be part of a leadership team. Andranel Brown, the NJHS coordinator states, "Marissa is the kind of person who sees the whole picture, can see what needs to be done and then does it." Through both organizations (and her involvement in Girl Scouts), she has committed to working on service projects that support her community and her peers. |
