Celebrating Academic Performance and School Community Leadership!

Madison Senior Center, Madison, Connecticut

Every spring, the Rotary Club of Madison holds its annual Madison Rotary Student of the Year program in conjunction with Madison Public Schools. The program celebrates a student from each of the five Madison Public Schools and recognizes them for their academic performance and their service as leaders in their school community.

Spring 2022 Award Recipients Pictured above, holding plaques (l to r) – Sarah Rosenthal, Jeffrey Elementary Student of the Year, and Ann Thompson, Ryerson Elementary Student of the Year, and their families, with Madison Rotary Student of the Year Master of Ceremonies, Robert Friend (far left), and Robin Miller (far right), along with Madison Public School Superintendent, Craig Cooke (center, back row).

Founded in 2007, the program has continued for 13 years (with 2 years off due to the pandemic) and serves as an anchor for Madison Rotary’s Youth Services initiatives. These include the Madison Interact Club program at Daniel Hand High, our Southern Connecticut Rotary District’s RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership) program, Rotary’s World Affairs conference, Rotary United Nations Day, and Rotary International Youth Exchange program.

The longtime Leader of our Madison Rotary Youth Services programs was Rotarian Arthur Criddle (1939-2020). He and his wife, Linda, were stalwart supporters of the youth in our community and drivers of the Madison Rotary Student of the Year program. Art was the engine who developed the Madison Rotary Interact Club at Daniel Hand High School into one of the largest and most active clubs on campus. With well over 100 members, you could not turn to a community event without seeing Interact and Daniel Hand High School students volunteering and helping out.

Art and Linda were leaders of our Club and our southern Rotary District and Art’s work was admired from afar. Other Interact Clubs from towns across the state emulated the framework that was driven by Arts passion and joy for giving youth the vision and inspiration to give back to society.

Art Criddle is pictured with two Interact Club members volunteering at the Madison Rotary Annual Carnival.