ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Kaitlyn Conway, daughter of Kim and Brian Conway of Loxley and an 8th grader at Central Baldwin Middle School, will be honored at the 10th annual Superintendent’s Red Ribbon Leadership Banquet on Monday, January 10.

Held at the Mobile Convention Center, the evening begins at 6 p.m. with a buffet dinner followed by a multimedia slideshow and awards ceremony and is sponsored by the Drug Education Council in Mobile.

Conway, 13, was nominated by her guidance counselor and voted on by her teachers to attend the banquet .She was chosen based on her ability to demonstrate a commitment to a healthy, drug-free lifestyle as well as practicing the six pillars of character-Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship.

“It’s a real honor to be chosen the only one out of the whole school (675 students) I’m really excited,” said Conway.

In addition to being on the Red Ribbon Leadership team, Conway has been playing trumpet in the CBMS band for two years and will participate in the Baldwin County Honor Band next week. She is also a center on the basketball team and a member of Technology Students of America.

“Kaitlyn is a highly motivated student with great character and is a pleasure to be around. She makes it fun to be at Central Baldwin Middle School,” said CBMS Principal Chuck Anderson.

According to the DEC website, the banquet honors all Mobile and Baldwin County students in public and private schools and the superintendents from each county will present awards to K-11 honorees and also scholarships to the high school seniors with the most outstanding community service projects at the end of the evening.

With the theme of “All Together Green”, the project focused on the importance of working together for a healthy environment and will be judged on the basis of their vision, scope, overall impact and the ability to convey the six pillars of character. Conway chose to construct a bird feeder as her project.

Beginning in 2000, the DEC started recognizing these students and last year gave $6,000 in scholarships to seven seniors. Since 2004, $28,000 has been given in cash awards, according to the website.

In addition to the scholarships, K-8 students will compete for a $100 gift certificate to be awarded to the best service project in each county.

Conway attends Jubilee Church in Daphne where she is active in the Praise and Worship Band and also has a brother, Cody Cooper, 19, who just left for U.S. Navy boot camp in Chicago.

Red Ribbon Week is celebrated in schools across the country in October to make students aware of the dangers of drugs and how to avoid them and the DEC is a voluntary, nonprofit organization dedicated to promote a drug-free society, prevent chemical dependency and provide quality education, information and intervention programs.