• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Northern New York Community Foundation

Northern New York Community Foundation

  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Contact
    • Employment
    • Philanthropy Center
    • Milestones
    • News & Media
      • Recent News
      • News Archive
      • Publications
      • Northern New York Community Podcast
  • Donors
    • Donate Online
    • Gift Information “At A Glance”
    • Making A Gift
    • Top 10 Things You Can Do To Leave A Legacy
    • NNYCF vs. A Private Foundation
    • FAQs
    • Investment Performance
  • Students
    • Scholarship Overview
    • Applications
    • Scholarships Available
  • Nonprofits
    • Apply for a Grant
    • 2023 Grant Opportunities
    • Partner & Grantee Resources
    • Recent Grant Recipients
  • Programs
    • Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge
    • Youth Philanthropy Council
    • LEAD Council
      • Canstruction for Northern New York

Lavarnway, Simser Earn Watertown High School Graf Award

June 6, 2019 By admin

Pair of Seniors Honored Wednesday as Top Graduating Athletes

    WATERTOWN — Two Watertown High School seniors were recognized as the top graduating athletes and the recipients of the William I. Graf Award on Wednesday. Julia Lavarnway was selected as the women’s recipient, and Ryder Simser was named as the men’s honoree this year.

    The William I. Graf Award was created in 1954 by the Italian-American Civic Association to honor Mr. Graf’s leadership and civic engagement in the community. Mr. Graf was a multi-sport coach and athletic director at Watertown High School. Graf Award honorees are expected to have participated in at least two or more varsity sports in their senior year and demonstrate exceptional character and sportsmanship, discipline, fair play, training, athletic ability, and academics.

From left, Ryder Simser, Phyllis Johnson, Lee “Gus” Murray, Julia Lavarnway, and David Graf. The two students were named Wednesday as 2019 Watertown High School Graf Award Recipients. Phyllis Johnson and David Graf are William I. Graf’s children and Lee “Gus” Murray is Graf’s nephew.

    Julia is an accomplished four-year varsity lacrosse player at Watertown who also played varsity soccer in her junior and senior years. As a soccer player, she served as team captain in both years of play. In lacrosse, she distinguished herself as a Frontier League All Star in her junior and senior years and was a team captain during her senior year. Julia was also selected as a four-time scholar-athlete while playing lacrosse for the Cyclones and twice while playing soccer. This season she helped lead her team to a 9-6 record and an appearance in the Section 3 Class C Playoffs.

    Off the athletic field, Julia participated in Business Club, volunteered for Meals on Wheels and was a “Values of Volunteering” member. A National Honor Society member, Julia will attend Clarkson University, Potsdam, where she plans to study business and play Division III lacrosse. She is the daughter of Mark and Joanne Lavarnway, Watertown.

    Ryder is a standout three-sport varsity athlete, playing soccer and basketball during his junior and senior years and lacrosse for four years. As a lacrosse player, he distinguished himself as a four-time Frontier League All-Star and was named to the All-North Team during his last sophomore, junior and senior years. He received a Sportsmanship Award in basketball and soccer during his junior year and was named a Frontier League All-Star in soccer during his senior year. Ryder was also selected as a four-time scholar athlete while playing lacrosse for the Cyclones and twice while playing soccer and basketball. He was chosen as a Section 3 Academic All-American this year.

    Off the athletic field, Ryder was a member of the Northern New York Community Foundation Youth Philanthropy Council during his freshman, sophomore and junior years; a volunteer at the SPCA of Jefferson County and the Watertown Urban Mission. A National Honor Society Member, Ryder will attend LeMoyne College, Syracuse, where he plans to study biology and play Division II lacrosse. He is the son of Erin and Shane Simser, Watertown.

    More than 100 graduating high school seniors have received the Graf Award. Watertown High School’s athletics staff selects the recipients each year, and the Italian American Civic Association presents the award. Following the death of Mr. Graf’s son, William A. Graf, in 2013, the family decided to honor him by funding a financial award for recipients. William A. Graf, who also embodied the traits of the award, attended Watertown High School and played several varsity sports coached by his father, William I.

    Each recipient receives a financial award of $1,000. The Northern New York Community Foundation was selected to help continue the Graf family legacy by administering the fund in perpetuity and raising awareness of the award for students who strive to earn the prestigious honor.

About the Northern New York Community Foundation

     Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life in communities across Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

     Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, generous individual donors and families, and charitable foundations, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving enduring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.

     The Community Foundation is a resource for donors, local charitable organizations, and professional advisors. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.

Filed Under: Recent News

Northern New York Community Foundation

131 Washington Street
Watertown, NY 13601

Phone: 315-782-7110
Fax: 315-782-0047

info@nnycf.org

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Northern New York Community Foundation

Northern New York Community Foundation

3,286

Working with donors to benefit the community through grants and scholarships since 1929.

Watch your mailboxes for our 2023 Friends Supporters issue of “Thoughtful Giving” this weekend!

We feature all donors who made gifts to the Friends of the Foundation 2022 Annual Community Betterment Fund and pay tribute to many special people who our community recently lost.

Annual donors like YOU help make possible so much of our work that strengthens Northern New York for everyone.

View a digital “sneak peek” of the issue at: issuu.com/nnycf/docs/tg_donorappreciation_spring_2023

#ThoughtfulGiving #ThoughtfulLegacies #NNYCF

Watch your mailboxes for our 2023 Friends Supporters issue of “Thoughtful Giving” this weekend!

We feature all donors who made gifts to the Friends of the Foundation 2022 Annual Community Betterment Fund and pay tribute to many special people who our community recently lost.

Annual donors like YOU help make possible so much of our work that strengthens Northern New York for everyone.

View a digital “sneak peek” of the issue at: issuu.com/nnycf/docs/tg_donorappreciation_spring_2023

#ThoughtfulGiving #ThoughtfulLegacies #NNYCF
... See MoreSee Less

1 day ago
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 17
  • Shares: 11
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

View more comments

ATTENTION TRI-COUNTY NONPROFITS:

Our partners at the Watertown Sunrise Rotary Foundation, a component fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation, welcome eligible nonprofit organizations in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties to apply for its annual Taste of the Town grant. Up to $5,000 in funding is available.

The Watertown Sunrise Rotary Club established a charitable foundation at the Community Foundation to help steward its philanthropic efforts and more effectively serve the region.

Nonprofit organizations should apply for this funding opportunity by Friday, March 31, through the Community Foundation’s online grant portal at nnycf.org/grants

Complete details: www.nnycf.org/taste-of-town-2023

#NNYCF #SunriseRotary #Partners #TasteOfTheTown
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Watertown’s Taste of the Town Set for April 22; Sunrise Rotary Club Foundation Seeks Grant Applications

www.nnycf.org

Watertown’s Taste of the Town Set for April 22; Sunrise Rotary Club Foundation Seeks Grant Applications February 21, 2023 By admin Opportunity for $5,000 in Funding Open to All Tri-County Nonprofit ...
2 days ago
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

View more comments

Meet Taya Coller, an eighth grader at Edwards-Knox Central School District.

For Taya, “Community means teamwork and people helping other people. When people are a part of a community, they look out for each other and work together.”

“In my community neighbors help each other,” Taya wrote in her winning essay. “Our hospital helps people recover from injury or disease.”

As a 2021-2022 Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Taya had a chance to present a grant to the St. Lawrence Health Foundation at Gouverneur Hospital, an organization she chose for its work to help those in the community who need it most. 

“Gouverneur Hospital best embodies my definition of community because it helps make the community a better place by looking out for other people,” Taya wrote. “For example, the hospital vaccinates people to try to help stop the spread of diseases like the flu, and hospital workers work together as one big team.” 

Taya met had a chance to meet Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital vice president for nursing, and present a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the hospital continue its critical work. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor. 

Pictured, from left, Diane Easton, Community Bank branch manager; Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital; and Taya Coller, Edwards-Knox Central School eighth grader and Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner.

Taya is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside her community to help an organization that works to improve quality of life for its residents. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Taya’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit

Meet Taya Coller, an eighth grader at Edwards-Knox Central School District.

For Taya, “Community means teamwork and people helping other people. When people are a part of a community, they look out for each other and work together.”

“In my community neighbors help each other,” Taya wrote in her winning essay. “Our hospital helps people recover from injury or disease.”

As a 2021-2022 Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Taya had a chance to present a grant to the St. Lawrence Health Foundation at Gouverneur Hospital, an organization she chose for its work to help those in the community who need it most.

“Gouverneur Hospital best embodies my definition of community because it helps make the community a better place by looking out for other people,” Taya wrote. “For example, the hospital vaccinates people to try to help stop the spread of diseases like the flu, and hospital workers work together as one big team.”

Taya met had a chance to meet Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital vice president for nursing, and present a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the hospital continue its critical work. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor.

Pictured, from left, Diane Easton, Community Bank branch manager; Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital; and Taya Coller, Edwards-Knox Central School eighth grader and Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner.

Taya is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside her community to help an organization that works to improve quality of life for its residents. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Taya’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit
... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 8
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

View more comments

Load more

Copyright © 2023 · Northern NY Community Foundation · Site Design: Riverside Media, LLC.