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Have you ever witnessed in person or through a news story someone experiencing a medical emergency in a public place?

Savannah Ivey, 14, a $1,000 award winner in the 2019 Davie Respect Initiative Challenge, had that experience. She found she didn’t know what to do to help as first responders were working with the person.

In addition, she noted that at such times there can be little privacy for the individual who is sick or injured as bystanders take and post sometimes embarrassing or inappropriate pictures on social media.

Her response was to propose a project to create a video that will show how to respond respectfully in emergency situations. “We don’t have to be bystanders, we can all help when we know how,” she said.

Thursday evening, Nov. 14, the second annual Davie Respect Initiative (DRI) celebration honored young creative thinkers, movers and shakers in Davie County who are taking initiative in making this community a better place to live and grow. Fifteen semifinalists were recognized for their outstanding ideas, with 10 award winners receiving checks for $1,000 each.

The panel included Towfik Shehata, Maria Gonzalez, Matt Settlemyer, Regina Graham and Kayla Roscoe.

Kayla, a $1,000 award winner in 2018, set a precedent for having a previous year finalist serving on the panel. The panel’s biggest challenge was selecting only 10 award winners from the ideas submitted.

Settlemyer, Mocksville Town Manager, was impressed and inspired by the ideas. He challenged the semifinalists to take their passion out into the community and extended that challenge to the audience.

He presented “Certificates of Recognition for Creative Contributions to Increase the Amount of Demonstrated Respect in Davie County.”

The remaining nine award winner’s projects are:

• Blake Roscoe, 12, Be the Encourager. Create a group to be encouragers who will write letters and befriend other students to boost their confidence and let them know someone believes in them.

• Cassidy Kluttz, 17, educate others with presentations about the Respect Puzzle – which contains three essential pieces – self-respect, respect for others, and for the environment.

• Kaitlyn Roscoe, 17, on behalf of The Catalyst Club: The Fuel for Change. The club conducts an annual craft sale to raise money for a charity. The club cultivates respect by unifying different people for a common goal.

• Jacob Chan, 14, on behalf of Sugar Valley Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron, host presentations by emergency responders to share and give their insights about respect to the public. Their stories and examples can help educate and uplift the community as a whole.

• Josh Robinson, 17, as captain of the football team, he will distribute “Respect” wristbands via the team, “as a reminder of how we should treat others.” It can spread far beyond Davie High, but it starts here.

• Journey Bowman, 12, POP – the Power of Positivity. A group at school will come together and write caring notes to place on other students’ lockers. It can make a positive difference in their day, let them know they are important and in turn, they might also choose to make a difference in someone else’s day.

• Madi Rogers, 14, create an awareness campaign of how to practice respect while driving. “I hope my project will inspire people to look beyond themselves and think about what they do and how it affects others.”

• Mia Clair Myers, 12, create vinyl posters, using her own tools, to decorate school halls with uplifting quotes and sayings. “Words are powerful, words can inspire, words can encourage, and words can motivate others to make positive choices.”

• Rachel Quance, 15, create a website that lists all places in Davie County where one can volunteer. “This creates chances to volunteer, to step up and show respect through serving others in a variety of places.”

Jane Simpson, executive director of the Davie Community Foundation, shared her enthusiasm for being able to support the respect projects. She encouraged and challenged each semifinalist to implement their project, as a personal demonstration of respect in finishing what we say we will do, from which everyone benefits and grows, she said.

Visit www.davierespect.com to see photos and information on semifinalists including the award winners and their projects. Check regularly to see the progress of the projects and to learn some of the ways to contribute and become a part of the DRI.