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Photo by Foss Farrar click image to enlarge

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
reporter@arkcity.net

Seventeen-year-old Katherine Callaway describes herself as a dreamer, and she's already seen one of her dreams come true -- A club of student volunteers she founded about two years ago at Arkansas City High School will continue in existence after she graduates.

Fellow members of the club, called STARS, an acronym for Students Taking a Responsible Step, have told Callaway they will continue to run the organization next year, she said. There are about 20 active STARS members.

"People don't realize how important volunteers are," she said. "When you turn on the news on TV, you're not going to see the good (volunteers do), but the negative, bad things."

Her optimistic attitude and her belief that each person can contribute to making the world a better place seem to have had a positive effect on many of her fellow students at Ark City High.

For instance, under her leadership, STARS recently alerted fellow students to "Random Acts of Kindness Week" by putting up posters in the school hallways.

"I figured we were going to have a lot of people on our case for doing that," Callaway said. "But nobody said anything negative."

Callaway said she has practiced doing acts of kindness for a long time. A simple act can have a big effect, she says.

"When I make out cards for members of my family I'll make an extra card to hand to somebody at the grocery store," she said. "Or I'll go to the store and buy a flower to give to the cashier."

As STARS president, Callaway publishes a monthly, three-page newsletter and keeps track of all members' hours of volunteering. Her own total hours over the past two years is more than 200, she said.

STARS members have participated in various activities. They include Adopt a Garden, Relay for Life, Military Operation Shoebox, Salvation Army Angels, Bowl of Kids' Sake and Cakes for a Cause.

The biggest annual fund raiser for STARS is Pennies for Patients, to raise money for people with leukemia and lymphoma. This year the group raised $505, which was sent to the Wichita-based charity.

On Feb. 2, the Soroptimist International of Arkansas City presented an award to Callaway. For founding STARS, she won the Violet Richardson award. It is given to a young woman between the ages of 14-17 who volunteers in a community or school system to make it a better place for all citizens.

Callaway later won two other Soroptimist awards -- district and regional. She was one of 12 who entered the district contest and one of 25 who entered the regional. For winning the regional, she was to receive $250 in cash and another $250 cash donation for STARS.

She plans to continue volunteer work next year in college. She will be attending Butler County Community College in El Dorado, where her maternal grandparents live.

"I'd always planned on going to Butler; I love my grandparents," she said, adding that she plans to live in a college dormitory.

On a recent Thursday, Callaway said she was thrilled to accept a full journalism scholarship to attend the community college starting next fall.

"I just learned about it in sewing class," said Callaway, who has been a member of the Ark Light student newspaper staff for the past three years.

She was informed of the scholarship offer by her yearbook instructor, Kelley Vaughan. Callaway also is on the Mirror yearbook staff this year.

Vaughan had received a call from the Butler County Community College newspaper adviser, who offered Callaway the scholarship and a position on the college newspaper staff.

"My entire life I have loved writing a lot," Callaway said. "A lot of people express things in different ways. For me, it's writing."

But journalism won't be her major. That will be elementary education. She wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she said.

"I've always wanted to (teach and) write books for children and young adults," Callaway said.

She's on her way to making that dream come true, too. She is almost finished writing -- and illustrating -- a children's book she has entitled "Lilly the Lady Bug Goes Shopping."

Callaway said her high school art teacher, Caryl Morgan, has supported her on the project, and has been her mentor throughout her high school years.

Her inspiration for writing the book comes from her nieces and nephews, who range in age from 1 to 4, she said.

But her mother, Marcia Callaway, a sixth grade special education teacher at Arkansas City Middle School, is her biggest inspiration, she said.

"My mom has definitely influenced me to be a teacher," Callaway said. "She's an incredibly strong person. She's awesome."

Above: Katherine Callaway works with her yearbook adviser Kelley Vaughan on Mirror page submissions.