Port Jeff Student at Stony Brook School Receives High Honors

Margot Rashba who just completed ninth grade at The Stony Brook School is an all-around star student who achieves her goals through hard work, determination, confidence, and organization.

Rashba is a star track athlete at The Stony Brook School who recently came in second place in the 3K race with a time of 11:26.32 during the Frosh/Soph Championships, an invitational for Suffolk County, held at Longwood High School.

She also competed at the Suffolk County Championships/State Qualifier meet held at and came in second place in Class B in the 3000-meter race.

Rashba will also served as the Admissions President for the 2011-2012 school year. According to a school representative, the Admissions President helps coordinate an Admissions Council of 60 students who help give tours and run admissions events like open houses and class visit days.

In her role, Rashba will help lead the group with the Admissions Prefect ensuring that all members receive opportunities to serve the school in various events. She will also coordinate communications, present ideas and help to solve problems.

Even though the position is rare for a Sophomore to receive, Rashba said that she’s confident of herself.

“Admissions is very important for the school's appearance as well as showing parents how students sincerely feel about the environment,” she said. “By letting parents personally talk to students through tours they are having a mini Stony Brook experience.”

Academically, Rashba is no slouch either. She’s an Honoree of the Cum Laude Society that includes students at the top of their class. Only four freshmen received this award in 2011

According to a Stony Brook School representative the Cum Laude Society was founded in 1906 to honor scholastic achievement in secondary schools and has now 350 chapters approximately two-dozen of which are located in public schools and the rest in Independent schools.

Aside from being honored by the Cum Laude Society, Rashba received many more awards at the closing ceremony of the 2011 school year including the Towers Memorial Award for excellence in English, the Russell Award for excellence in Latin and the Starr Award given to the highest achieving students in grades 7th through 10th in social studies and humanities classes. She also was honored with two athletics awards. One for excellence in performance in cross county and the Laura J. Shybunk Girls Track Award given to the student athlete “whose enthusiasm and commitment has made the greatest contribution to the spirit and character of the team.”

Diligence, work ethic, and care are three qualities that contribute to Rashba’s success.

“She is always willing to serve others and the school,” said a school spokesperson. “She has high standards for herself and never settles.”

Rashba said that she thinks that with “hard work, determination, confidence, and organization one's goals can be acquired.”

“If one desires to succeed at anything, whether it be a job, academics, or athletic pursuits, all of these qualities must be present,” she said. “Without determination and confidence in oneself, there is no motivation to succeed. Organization is a quality that might not lead to success directly, be certainly helps make the goal easier to see and to strive for. Hard work is absolutely necessary if one wants to succeed.”