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Duncan Christian volunteer named Rotary Student of the Month

‘Everyone should have an Anna’
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Anna Kempe receives her Student of the Month certificate from Duncan Rotary Club president Gregg Perry, joined on the left by DCS athletic director Tom Veenstra and on the right by Student of the Month coordinator Kim Barnard. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen)

“Everyone should have an Anna.”

That was Duncan Rotary Club Student of the Month coordinator Kim Barnard’s assessment after she learned about Duncan Christian School student Anna Kempe, who received the award for September 2021.

Hailed as a “positive role model and encourager” at the school, Kempe is a dedicated athlete and volunteer with the Chargers sports programs, helping out in every way imaginable.

“She’s eager to serve, very positive and works well with others,” said DCS athletic director and development director Tom Veenstra, who also oversees the school’s work experience program. “She’s a great representative of the school. She just makes our school look good with respect to how she represents us. And she makes my job as an athletic director easier, too. She comes up with great ideas for how to do things different ways.”

A Grade 12 student, Kempe is a member of the school’s volleyball, soccer and golf teams, and helps coach the junior girls volleyball squad. She also volunteers at games and tournaments, doing everything from refereeing to scorekeeping. Outside of athletics, she is a member of the school’s chapel team as well.

Kempe was named Duncan Christian’s Sportsperson of the Year for 2019-20, as well as the Most Improved Player on the senior girls volleyball team.

“Anna’s natural disposition is humble, caring, kind and supportive,” Veenstra said. “When you have Anna on your team or in your planning group, things will get done and get done extremely well. She can totally be counted on.”

Kempe says she loves helping the school’s sports teams, and also appreciates the possibilities and encouragement provided by the school.

“It’s really cool that this school gives us so many opportunities to improve in leadership,” she said. “If we want the opportunities, they will definitely provide them, which I really appreciate. I’ve been to schools where that wasn’t necessarily their No. 1 priority.”

Outside of school, Kempe has volunteered with Cowichan Therapeutic Riding Association and spent this past summer working at a Christian ranch camp in Saskatchewan. Volunteering is her way of paying something back to a community that has done so much for her.

“I love it. I’ve always had older people investing in me,” she said. “Seeing people investing in my life made me want to do it too because I appreciated it so much.”