By Denise Richardson
ONEONTA _ Educators, students and business representatives gathered at Hunt College Union at SUCO on Wednesday to celebrate academic achievement.
More than 100 people attended the fifth annual Daniel B. Swift Scholar Recognition Program in the ballroom at the State University College at Oneonta.
The Scholar Recognition Program honors outstanding academic achievement, leadership and community service by area high school seniors. Each school in Otsego, Delaware and Chenango counties is invited to select a senior. In turn, the student identifies a teacher who has most influenced his or her education.
``I'm very proud to be here, that I was the one picked from my school,'' said Rachel Golia, 18, a senior at Worcester Central School. ``It's awesome.''
Golia invited school Principal Ann Cole to attend the dinner with her because she had an open-door policy and an ability to help students in many different situations. Golia's student-leadership roles were too many to mention on short notice, Cole responded.
``We celebrate excellence at Worcester,'' Cole said. ``And Rachel is the epitome of that.''
The award is named after Daniel B. Swift, former publisher of The Daily Star. Swift began the program when he served on the Otsego County Chamber's Education Committee.
``It's wonderful that we can do this, that we can honor the best and the brightest of not only our students but also our teachers,'' Swift said Wednesday night before the dinner, ``Every year is special.''
Swift credited the work of district superintendents at local BOCES in arranging the event. Alan Pole, district superintendent of the Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego Board of Cooperative Educational Services, and Marie Wiles, district superintendent of the Otsego-Northern Catskills BOCES, praised the collaboration of school districts, post-secondary educational institutions and businesses.
``It brings together the best of what we're all capable of,'' Wiles said. ``It's a treat to be here.''
This year, major sponsors were the Mang Insurance Group, Hartwick College, Morrisville State College, Norwich campus, SUCO, the State University College of Technology at Delhi, USC/The Business College, Oneonta campus, the Otsego County Chamber and The Daily Star. Other local companies, institutions and individuals also provided sponsorships.
Candace S. Vancko, president of the State University College of Technology Delhi, was the keynote speaker.
Pole said it was important that businesses and the community had taken time for the program.
``The honoring of the students and the teachers together makes this a very special event,'' Pole said.
Jeffrey Rhone, a Spanish teacher and girls basketball coach at Andes Central School, said he was privileged to be invited by Cheyenne Tait. In seventh grade, she was ``very, very shy,'' he said, but she now is ``an incredibly bright, compassionate person'' who ``will do really well'' at Princeton University next year.
Tait, 18, said she invited Rhone because ``he's a really encouraging teacher.''
She said being at the dinner Wednesday prompted good feelings of accomplishment mixed with a sense of closure.
``It's a happy ending,'' she said.
