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Krystian Peduzzi
Former VTLSP Youth Advisory Council Member

Krystian was involved with VTLSP/SADD, VYS, GYLC, and was the Youth Advisory Council rep from his school. He died in a crash on February 14, 2002. He wasn't impaired, and he was wearing his safety belt, but the impact of the crash, head on with a truck, was not survivable.

The VTLSP/SADD Board of Directors decided to create an award in memory of Krystian to be presented at GYLC each year to a senior, male VTLSP/SADD student who demonstrates the qualities of leadership that Krystian portrayed.

The 2007 recipient is: Sean O'Reilly

The award as presented at GYLC 2007:

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Sandy Wright. I am a teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy, faculty advisor for St. Johnsbury Academy's VTLSP/SADD chapter, and state advisor. Today it is my honor, privilege and responsibility to introduce this year's "VTLSP Krystian Peduzzi Memorial Award." In this award, we hope to honor the life and accomplishment, the spirit and the potential of Krystian Peduzzi through recognizing someone who shares many of the characteristics which made Krystian such a dynamic young man. Today we honor someone with leadership skills, someone who has earned the respect and love of his peers, his teachers, his coaches, friends and family. We honor someone who embodies an ethos of kindness, enthusiasm, service, accomplishment, and almost unlimited potential.

I first met this year's recipient when he was a shy and serious freshman sitting in the back of my classroom. When I look at the young man he has become, I am amazed by the transformation of that silent little boy. The change has been gradual, and I have been a delighted witness as he has come into his own as a scholar and a leader. I first realized that this boy had influence when, after attending an initial meeting, he brought his close circle of friends in to join VTLSP/SADD. I realized his commitment to sharing the goals and supporting the aspirations of others as I learned about his daily participation in his family run business. His coaches shared about his joy in supporting his teammates and his willingness to push himself through the barriers of long distances and pain to achieve his personal goals and to contribute to the success of his teammates. From his teacher I heard how he helps to create an atmosphere of collegial learning where the opinions and strengths of all are heard and valued. That shy boy in the back of my classroom has become a leader. The introvert turned extraverted young man that we will honor today has found his voice and his purpose as well as a delightful and engaging sense of humor. A slogan of his recent successful campaign to be State Representative for VTLSP was, "Don't be a wimple, vote for the dimples."

This year's award recipient is Vermont's National Representative and has served on the Governor's Youth Leadership Conference planning committee for four years. He has been pivotal in organizing and motivating his classmates and community to participate in activities that highlight the work of VTLSP/SADD: peer counseling, mentoring programs with elementary students, training sessions for local law enforcement officials, volunteerism and activism at VTLSP and SADD conferences as close as Boston and as far away as New Orleans. He is an excellent student and well-respected member of his church and community. I am proud also to call him a personal friend. He and I have traveled many miles together throughout the state and across the country. Through it all he has been an unfailingly cheerful, enthusiastic, fully-engaged, deeply committed, curious and reflective travel companion. In fact, just the other night returning home from a planning committee meeting we were driving past the cross erected in Krystian's memory where the crash occurred, and Sean turned to me and said, "You know whenever I drive by here, I feel a connection with him."

It is my great pleasure to introduce this year's recipient of the VTLSP Krystian Peduzzi Memorial Award to Mr. Sean O'Reilly.