Payson Avery of Casco has been selected as the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club’s “Citizen of the Month” for March.

Each month, the Rotary Club recognizes a Lake Region High School student who displays good citizenship and contributes to the school community. The recipient is honored at a Rotary breakfast meeting and is presented a monetary gift.

Name: Payson Avery

Class of: 2020

Town: Casco

Parents: Shannon and Scott Avery

Sibling(s): Tyler Avery (brother)

Activities: Band, Chorus, Jazz Band, Jazz Chorus, Theatre

Community activities: Every year, I volunteer with the LRHS Chorus performing a Christmas Concert at the South Paris Veterans’ Home. I volunteer with the Casco Village Church choir in a few of their concerts. I audition and perform with the Lake Region Community Theatre.

Hobbies: Playing music on my trombone, as well as singing as much as I can.

Future plans: I hope to go to college for a Music Performance major with a possibility of a Music Education major. My plan after college is to continue performing both in solo performances and in theatre productions. If I do decide to go for an education major then I will try my best to be the best music teacher I can be.

Schools that you have or will apply: University of Southern Maine.

Q. What do you consider as traits that make someone a good citizen? Volunteering to help others, good attitude, positive personality, always willing to help others.

Q. Who has inspired you to be a good citizen and why? Mr. (Brian) Tingdahl, Mr. (Paul) Greenstone and Mr. (Eugene) Long were three people who really inspired me to get better in my music life and overall inspired me to become a good citizen. They taught me that hard work gets me far in life and to never give up on my dreams.

Q. What have you done to make the school community a better place? Being a member of the anti-bullying club “Mikaela’s Project” at school for the past two years, I attended a Youth Leadership Conference in Bangor, which focused on inclusion, support and ways to strengthen mental health in teens today.

Q. Why is volunteerism important? Volunteering keeps you involved in what is going on in your area and also helps you be more included as a member of your community, where you could meet new people and create new bonds that could last a lifetime.

Q. In the future, what do you see yourself doing to make the world a better place? Teaching kids about the amazing music experience I had now and hope they have the same amazing experience that I have had. I also want to teach the kids the importance of mental health awareness and hopefully in the future put a stop to people feeling like they have to be someone they’re not to fit in, and to stop the fear going around communities.