Soon-to-be Watkins graduate recognized for altruism

• A soon-to-be Watkins Memorial graduate made her mark through volunteerism
• Madison Weller volunteered both inside her school and outside of it, even traveling to Haiti
• Weller is set to graduate this weekend with her classmates

PATASKALA – Watkins Memorial High School teachers did not have to look very hard to find the outstanding citizen for the soon-to-graduate senior class.

Madison Weller, who will graduate with her classmates on Sunday, has devoted herself to volunteerism, even at a young age.

“In my five years here, we’ve never had a more clear cut choice for outstanding citizen,” Watkins Memorial Principal Ben Richards said. “If you’re in a bind and you need a student to help, she’s the one to ask — and you can take it to the bank it will be done and done well.”

Weller, 17, is bashful about receiving such praise, but she is not bashful about her calling, which involves helping others.

In January, she and other members of her church, Tri-Village Christian Church, traveled to Haiti with Lifeline Christian Mission, of Westerville, for 10 days. The group built homes and handed out clothes and food.

Weller also spent part of the previous two summers volunteering at the Christian Children’s Home of Ohio in Wooster. She picked weeds, raked leaves, painted and power washed buildings.

Around Watkins Memorial, she volunteered as a tutor, both at the high school and the nearby middle school, and poured herself into various charitable efforts, including one aimed at collecting clothes for needy Haitians. She also served as the senior class secretary.

“I really enjoy service, whether it’s small things or big things,” she said.

Weller attributes her love for all things altruistic to a mission trip she took the summer before her freshman year in high school. She traveled to Oklahoma to volunteer with The Voice of The Martyrs, an inter-denominational Christian organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians around the world.

“That kind of fueled my passion, a passion I didn’t know I had,” she said.

Upon returning from the trip, Weller started looking for ways to give back to others.

The January trip to Haiti presented one opportunity. She helped build three homes in the muggy humidity, and when she was not lifting bricks she was handing out clothes and food.

“It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” Weller said. “It’s so beautiful, but I would describe it as beautifully broken. The poverty there is like nothing you would ever imagine.”

Weller plans on returning to Haiti with Lifeline Christian Mission in 2016.

Her faith drives her to seek new ways to help others, whether fellow Christians being persecuted for their beliefs, impoverished residents living in a developing country or high school classmates.

When Watkins Memorial’s regular Spanish teacher missed time earlier this school year, Weller, who was taking Spanish 5, volunteered to help students taking Spanish 1 and 2.

“She’s a fantastic student and an even more fantastic person,” Richards said.

Weller carries a 3.8 GPA, but she has no immediate plans to go to college like many of her classmates.

Not surprisingly, her future plans involve more volunteerism.

Ultimately, she feels confident her faith will guide her to college and an area of study, just not immediately after high school.

“I want to go out and experience things,” she said. “At a young age, there is something that could fuel my passion even more for what God is calling me to do.”

Graduation time

Watkins Memorial High School’s graduation ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. May 24 at the high school, 8868 Watkins Road SW.