DAR awards high school seniors with the Good Citizens award

Winners of Henry Middleton DAR chapter’s Good Citizens awards are, from left, high school seniors Justin McMurtrie, Johnnie Williams, Senora Williams and Katherine Stewart. Staff photo by Rob Novit.

Four Aiken County High School seniors are the 2011-12 DAR Good Citizens, selected by the Henry Middleton chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.

The winners are Johnnie Williams of Aiken High School, Senora Williams of Wagener-Salley High School, Justin McMurtrie of Aiken Prep and Katherine Stewart of South Aiken High School.

Stewart also won the chapter's award for best essay on the value of good citizenship. The essay will move on to the state competition.

"The students are just wonderful, and I'm so proud of all of them," said Cheryl Guynn, the DAR chapter's regent. "As a classroom teacher by profession, I'm blown away about their accomplishments."

The Good Citizens awards are based on scholarship, patriotism and service. For McMurtrie and Johnnie Williams, the event was a bit of deja vu. McMurtrie's older brother Wil won the DAR award in 2007 and is now a U.S. Naval Academy senior. Williams' brother Justin also received the award in 2002 and went on to become the University of South Carolina student body president before attending law school there.

Stewart is involved with the honor societies, golf and track at South Aiken. She's especially proud of her role as the Serteens team captain for Relay For Life. Her mother Erin is a cancer survivor who was diagnosed about 10 years ago. Stewart didn't understand much about the disease then.

"I only really knew that Mom wasn't here as much," she said. "I realized later how much it did affect us, how if she wasn't here, life would be so different. I'm really glad to be the team captain for my service club."

Senora Williams has spent three summers in Orangeburg, working as a summer volunteer for a children's evangelism program. She spends time at day care centers and other facilities to work with children.

"I'm also the student body president and play baseball and track," she said. "School is a big part of my life."

McMurtrie has visited his older brother at the Naval Academy, including the Army-Navy game a few months ago. He hopes to attend the academy, as well, and has been accepted at Auburn. He serves as Aiken Prep's basketball and soccer captain and plays golf, too. He's the Student Council vice president and was the Beta Club president last year.

Johnnie Williams had the prestigious honor of being elected as the state governor for Boys' State last June. He's also involved in the FCA and is considering walking on to play football at USC. He wants to major in nursing.

"When Johnnie brought home the application from DAR, I was so glad he is following through the same motions as his brother," Judy Williams said of her son. "That's very satisfying as a parent."