Charlotte County Public Schools

The Do the Right Thing of Charlotte County recognition ceremony was held on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at Florida Southwestern State College. The following students were recognized:  

Christopher Boehm, Jr., Grade: 6, Sky Academy 

Christopher was honored for his courage in standing up for others. CJ has had to ask bullies to stop pushing smaller kids on the bus three times this year. He is always the one to stand up for the little dogs. He is the big boy standing up for the small ones, and that does not allow bullies to push smaller kids around! 

Taylor Lehmkuhl, Grade: 10, Charlotte High School 

Taylor was honored for demonstrating exceptional compassion and quick action in a moment of crisis. While visiting Aquatica water park with her family, Taylor discovered a woman who had collapsed inside a stall and appeared to be unresponsive. Instead of ignoring the situation, Taylor immediately alerted her mother and quickly ran to get a staff member for assistance. The woman was later determined to be suffering from hyperglycemia and had been unconscious for more than ten minutes in extreme heat conditions, with the heat index reaching 112 degrees that day. Taylor’s decisive response ensured that the woman was not left alone and untreated any longer. As her mother checked on the woman, Taylor took the initiative to search for the woman’s family while also ensuring staff assistance was on the way. When the woman regained consciousness, Taylor helped provide her with water and comfort until park medical personnel arrived to provide proper care. Because of Taylor’s quick thinking, empathy, and determination to act when others would not, the woman received the immediate attention she needed in a dangerous medical emergency. Taylor’s actions reflect courage, responsibility, and the very spirit of the Do the Right Thing Award. 

Hendricks Ross, Grade: 3, East Elementary 

Hendricks was honored for his generosity and kindness. A few weekends ago, his friend Wyatt took his electric scooter to a friend’s house to go fishing. He left it in the front yard, and within 15 minutes, it was stolen. It was a frustrating situation, and Wyatt was understandably upset. When Hendricks heard about what happened, he took it upon himself to do something about it. He raised money with his friends and bought Wyatt a new scooter. No one asked him to step in—he saw an opportunity to help and took action. It was a powerful reminder that while some people take, others give in the most selfless ways. Hendricks and his friends turned a disappointing situation into something truly heartwarming, showing us the best side of humanity.  

Emma Scaringella, Grade: 2, Christian Life Academy 

Emma was honored for her true gift of compassion. We created a project for her first literature book, Fun with Pets. She chose to help the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County. Emma was able to tour the shelter, then, she went home and created a pretend shelter of her own! She wanted to collect everything she could to help the animals at the shelter. She also wanted to have the age lowered for her to volunteer with the cats at the shelter. Emma created flyers to hand out around the neighborhood and partnered with her Sunday School class at Holy Trinity Lutheran. She was able to collect over $500 and supplies to donate to the shelter! The shelter was so thankful that a 6-year-old was that passionate about animals. She was told that they were lowering the age for her to volunteer at the shelter, and that a program to read to animals was being started! 

Daisy Stevens, Grade: 9, Port Charlotte High School 

Daisy was honored for her bravery and care helping others during an accident. Daisy was a past recipient of this award for helping a fellow student who split their head open. After leaving the awards ceremony we witnessed a motor vehicle accident directly in front of us, close enough if we had been a few seconds closer we would have been involved. I immediately pulled over and before I could say anything Daisy was already out and heading to the elderly man who was driving the Corvette, who also hit his head and was bleeding while I checked the young lady driving the SUV, and Daisy's mom called 911. Daisy ran back to her grandparent’s car who was behind us (they attended the ceremony as well) and retrieved a first aid kit and ran back to the elderly man and helped with the bleeding asking him questions until EMS arrived on scene. I know this is a great program this county offers and realize she just received this award so I'm grateful for that and don't expect to receive this so soon for her, as I'm sure there are a lot of deserving children out there that deserve this recognition, but my past in firefighting and law enforcement I know that reinforcing these values can keep children on the right path.