Miller and Chassi, busy students, win Superintendent Awards


SALISBURY — The Salisbury Central middle school building hums with activity every day, but especially when Cassidy Miller and Kevin Chassi are around. Both are winners of this year’s Litchfield County Superintendent Awards for Salisbury Central.

Cassidy is enthusiastic about a lot of things, especially the outdoors. Just about every day after school, her mother insists that the eighth-grader and she and her younger brothers and sisters take a one-hour walk "even when it’s freezing." That familiarity with nature has inspired many of Cassidy’s best drawings and paintings. She often paints and draws in the family garage, where her mother, an amateur photographer, keeps a small studio.

At Salisbury Central, Cassidy plays softball and basketball, is running for Student Council and is on the eighth-grade class trip fundraising committee. Her favorite subject is English and her favorite teacher is Lou Bucceri for social studies.

Cassidy and her family only moved to Salisbury when she was in sixth grade. She is struck by the difference between Salisbury Central and her previous school, in Florida.

"It’s like a private education here," she said. "In Florida we had 36 kids in a class and six different home rooms."

The daughter of Hilda and Joseph Miller, Cassidy said leadership now comes naturally to her since she often has to take care of her younger brothers and sisters, ages 10, 9 and 7.

Kevin Chassi fancies himself a performer. He took acting classes last summer, dances tap and hip-hop, and is a member of the school’s regular band and jazz band. Of being on stage, Kevin said, "It’s just something that feels cool and right." His instruments include flute and baritone sax, although he is starting to dabble in guitar and bass.

He has a strong academic record that includes Spanish Honors. He’s interested in serving on Student Council and has often served as a peer mediator. Kevin’s favorite subjects are English and social studies and his favorite teachers are Bucceri and Jeanine Coleman.

The son of Aimee Shay and Jimmy Chassi, Kevin is big on Salisbury Central: "It’s small. They focus on you. You feel like you can be recognized."

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