District 01 - Rina Gabriella Jenne - Gold

Rina Gabriella Jenne | Legislator Al Krupski's Honoree | Gold Award

Rina Gabriella Jenne is a 12th grader at Longwood High School and will now be heading off to Molloy College in the Fall of 2020.  This is Rina’s 3rd year participating in the Distinguished Youth Award Medal Program.  Rina has earned yet another GOLD award.

Rina enjoyed using her time volunteering in her community, especially while being a Girl Scout.  She participated in activities helping our Veterans by making care packages to for our military and donated them to the Military Club at her high school.  She participated in the Veterans and Christmas parades.  She is very involved with the Blessings in a BackPack project, the 7th Precinct Explorers Program, clubs a school and has helped out with countless food and clothing drives. Her project at the 7th Precinct Explorers Program was to help create a Memorial for fallen officers.  This project included a patio that was 15x12 with a tree, plants and plant potters, 2 Blue Line benches and 2 US Flag benches.  The entire precinct cleaned, raked and mulched then surrounded the area with lights to be able to see it at night. She feels blessed to have helped so many less fortunate people and to give back to her community and others.

She also volunteered at the Yaphank Historical Society and made a Butterfly garden! Rina built an interactive Butterfly Garden for The Yaphank Historical Society at The Swezey-Avey House in Yaphank, NY. It is a serene place with informational signs, five wooden cutouts and painted butterflies with a plethora of colors and aromas of beautiful plants and herbs. Her Gold Award Project totaled 140 hours and it took one year to complete.

In addition, Rina has helped in her high school with Freshman Orientation, Teachers Luncheon, Homecoming and the Fall Drama Cub.  Her mentors say she is a very helpful and dedicated and reliable young lady. She also wanted to give a try to be proficient in Spanish and she wanted to be inducted into the National Foreign Language Honor Society and earn her Spanish seal of bi-literacy for her diploma and she did.  Her mom is also encouraging and helping Rina with learning Italian.  She became a better photographer and even made an Instagram account to display her work.  She loves music and has become a better at the clarinet and piano as well.

Rina also found time to visit 15 Suffolk County Parks too.  She loved visiting the parks in the different seasons.  It was an exciting time for her and her family to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful scenery. She loved expanding her horizons. Rina also worked on her physical fitness goal to continue to be active and enjoyed hiking, camping, jet skiing, paddle boarding and swimming.  These activities increased her flexibility and endurance; 2 things she set out to accomplish.