Saint Michael’s College Book Award Given To Charles Farrell Of Grafton

Charles Farrell of Grafton, a student at Catholic Central High School was named the 2011 recipient of the Saint Michael’s College Book Award for Academic Achievement with a Social Conscience.
The  award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to leadership in volunteer service and academic achievement. Saint Michael’s, located in Burlington, VT, one of America’s top 10 college towns, was founded on the belief that serving others is part of its Catholic tradition and through the award seeks to honor those who demonstrate the true spirit of volunteerism.
Award recipients, named at schools throughout the country, are high school juniors who are inductees of the National Honor Society or an equivalent school-sponsored honors organization. They must demonstrate a commitment to service activities in high school or community organizations, taking leadership roles in these activities.
Farrell was presented the book First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (HarperCollins 2000) by Loung Ung, a 1993 Saint Michael’s College graduate who has become a widely acclaimed author. In First They Killed My Father, Ung gives a powerful autobiographical account, from a child’s perspective, of surviving captivity during the genocidal Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. She reveals an indomitable spirit in the face of profound suffering, including the loss of both her parents and two of her siblings. Ung has written a riveting memoir about a family’s survival and, in turn, about the development of Ung’s ongoing crusade for a landmine free world.
The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, Saint Michael’s, provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael’s College is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 373 Colleges and is included in the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges.  The college is one of the nation’s top-100 Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report rankings.