Sam Zarkower
Sam Zarkower
The League of Women Voters of Rye, Rye Brook & Port Chester has chosen Samuel "Sam" Zarkower, an 11th grader at Blind Brook High School, to receive its 2015 Student Civic Achievement Award.

This honor is given annually by the League to a high school student who lives in and attends a high school in the City of Rye, Village of Rye Brook, Village of Port Chester, or the Rye Neck section of Mamaroneck in recognition of the student's overall contributions to his or her school and community in the areas of civic engagement, advocacy, leadership or voter education.

Sam is Vice President of Junior State of America, founder and member of his school's Debate Team, has participated for three years in the Tools for Change research project sponsored in part by the League and the Town of Rye and is currently serving as a teaching assistant, is a member of his school's Student Congress, is a three year member of Model United Nations, volunteers at a soup kitchen and is a peer tutor. This summer Sam will go the south side of Chicago with the goal of introducing a character education and leadership program to the schools as an alternative to the gun violence that has taken too many young lives in that area.

In his application essay, Sam commented, "... I am drawn to civic engagement, politics and advocacy because they are fundamental to our nation's foundation and have made us what we are today and will determine what we will become in the future."