By Cambria Roth
Last year, John F. Kennedy High School senior Stephanie Jones, received a heart-wrenching phone call, that her close family friend, Jordan Dark, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma.
For her senior project, Jones decided to put together a barbecue benefit to raise money and generate support from the community. This small course of action soon turned into something much larger.
“It started out small and turned into a very nice dinner with many great speakers and an auctioneer who goes to churches, schools and medical places for free,” Jones said. “We even had a man that called and said he would like to donate some things and he ended up dropping off an entire pick-up load of items for the auction. It really brought the community together.”
A member of her school’s National Honor Society, Jones has a 3.9 grade point average, is a captain of the softball and cross country teams, a member of Future Business Leaders of America, on the school newspaper staff and Associated Student Body.
She also volunteers in booths at the Oktoberfest, the Homer Davenport Classic, the Silverton Hospital Fun Run, Reading is Fun! and is active with the youth group at Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Her extensive list of school activities and community service while maintaining a very high GPA have set her apart and has earned her the Mt. Angel Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Junior First Citizen Award.
“I was really surprised and honored to receive this award and I am very excited for the banquet,” she said. From the time she was very young Jones knew she wanted to have a career that enabled her to help people.
“I began looking into careers related to drug prevention and at the same time my uncle was accepted into the (federal) Drug Enforcement Academy,” Jones said. “I began researching the requirements and decided it was something I wanted to pursue also.”
She plans to attend Boise State University in the fall with a major in accounting and a minor in criminal justice.
While she describes herself as “optimistic, outgoing and straightforward,” she is humble about her accomplishments and enjoys giving back to the community.
“All of my volunteer work turns me into a better person by seeing what other people go through,” Jones said. “It makes me appreciate my life more.”
Yet, she does not take the credit for why she is pleased to help others and explains that it is the work of her mother, Shannon Frey, who has influenced her the most.
“She gives me a lot of my great ideas and has taught me to provide help to those in need,” Jones said. “She will come home with six names at Christmas time from the Giving Tree and when it snowed, she volunteered us to help at the Urgent Care Facility in Silverton.”
Jones encourages her peers to volunteer and be involved in the community too.
“There is nothing more rewarding than making someone’s day and seeing the smile that you have placed on another’s face,” she said.
