Black Bear Community Award - Will Barcelo
Student Name: Will Barcelo
Date of Recognition: November 15th, 2023
House Team: Skye Peak
Faculty Presenter: Courtney O’Keefe
Advisor: Shayna Miller and Dylan Conte
Sport: Freeski
Please join the KMS community in congratulating Will Barcelo as this week’s Black Bear Community Award recipient. This award is given by the KMS faculty, and is intended to honor those within our community who go above and beyond to benefit the many different demographics within our school. These individuals selflessly dedicate their time and energy to stepping forward to better our community without any expectation of recognition or reward. Our recipient this week is a Full-Term, Freeski athlete, who comes to KMS from Andover, Massachusetts. Will was recognized by a handful of our faculty, who wished to acknowledge Will’s positive impact on our community. From his willingness to meet with faculty to propose new ideas to address essential needs, to his selfless motivation to help others, Will continues to showcase his amazing character as well as commitment to KMS.
Executive Chef Patrick Boandl was the first to step forward this past week to put forth a nomination for Will. Patrick states, “I would like to nominate Will for the Black Bear award. Will, representing the Student Council, met with me about ideas on how to better retrieve cups & mugs from the dorm rooms. He also talked about future suggestions from students. To me it showed involvement, thoughts about solutions and leadership.Will is always there to help out, and always pleasant to talk with in the dining hall.”
Seconding this nomination is Student Life Director Courtney Harvey. Courtney H. writes, “Will is excellent at helping out his classmates & always steps up to help organize projects, school events, etc. He is more than deserving of this recognition.”
And lastly, putting forth her own nomination is Social Studies Department Co-Chair and Advisory Coordinator Courtney O’Keefe. Courtney O. reflects, “I have known Will for the past three years as both his Social Studies/Social Sciences teacher and Advisor. Since his first day here at KMS, he has been a steady as well as present member within our community. He is someone who makes others feel heard as well as valued, selflessly dedicates his time towards helping both faculty and students alike, and is always open to discussion as well as collaboration. He embraces the opportunity to make a difference, is one of the few who takes any challenge in stride, and is a natural leader that others follow. Whether we call him student, athlete, peer, teammate, or friend- we all benefit from having Will within our community. Thank you, Will- for everything that you do and continue to do for KMS!”
Let’s hear it for Will this week! We are very lucky to call him one of our own! Thank you, Will!
