The Bethel Park Rotary Club’s May Student of the Month is Bethel Park High School junior,
Melina Stewart.
Stewart serves as the president of the Interact club, a service organization for young people ages 12-18 who want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they care most about. Interact club members carry out hands-on service projects, make international connections, develop leadership skills, and have fun in the process.
Bethel Park’s Interact club has 125 members, including 60 full-time members. They have raised more than $7,600 for
Smiles from Sean; $500 for
412 Thrive; $500 for
the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; $200 for
Outreach Teen and Family Services; $200 for the
Autism Society of Pittsburgh; and $150 for
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh.
The Interact club, which raises money in a variety of ways including t-shirt sales, cookbook sales, chocolate covered pretzel sales and donations, recently provided some teachers with what they called, “Teacher Survival Kits,” that included some classroom supplies and other necessities.
The club also partnered with St. Clair Hospital for a Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Out sale and worked alongside DECA for the Adopt-A-Family program, packing more than 50 gifts for area families.
Other events Interact has either sponsored or participated in have included the high school’s holiday tree sale, the Trunk-or-Treat event at the South Park Shops, a cookbook sale and a wreath-placing at a veterans memorial service, among others.
Interact’s most recent initiatives included its Mother’s Day Flower sale and it co-sponsored Family Sensory Movie Night for families with students with intellectual disabilities.
Melina is the daughter
Gina and
Jeffery Stewart and the youngest of two children.
“Interact has taught me how to devote myself to others and make them a priority over my own needs,” said Stewart. “I have learned through this process that selflessness makes everyone better and our communities stronger.”
I have tried to be a role model and patience and perseverance and fighting through the constraints of a pandemic. But I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
Stewart is currently the election coordinator for all student offices and is the president-elect for SGA. This year, she also served as the Dance and Induction Chair for National Honor Society. She is also a member of Spanish NHS. For the past two years, she has also served as a captain for Team Leadership Corps and is on the Ways and Means Committee in support of the Senior Prom.
Students are nominated for Bethel Park Rotary Student of the Month by administrators, teachers, students or community members and are chosen on the basis of academics, as well as scholastic, extracurricular and civic honors and awards, and organization membership and leadership.
At a luncheon held each month, honorees receive a certificate acknowledging their contribution to their community. For more information on Rotary and its’ mission, please ask any Rotarian about it or visit
bethelparkrotary.org. You can also visit their
Facebook page.