The Do the Right Thing of Charlotte County recognition ceremony was held on Thursday, November 2, 2023 at Punta Gorda Police Department. The following students were recognized:

Giana Booker, Charlotte Technical College, Grade 11
Giana was honored for being a caring citizen. She observed traffic diverting from the right lane into the left lane due to a car not moving through the intersection. When she pulled alongside the stopped vehicle, she observed both occupants of the vehicle to be "knocked out." Fearing for the occupant’s safety, Giana pulled her vehicle to the side of the road, called 911, and approached the passenger side of the vehicle. She attempted to wake the passenger of the vehicle up by knocking on the window and yelling. Giana then asked the driver to wake up the passenger. The driver stated he was ok. Giana and insisted that the driver wake the passenger up. Upon waking up Giana asked if he was ok, and he said yes then the two drove away. When she arrived at the CTC (Charlotte Technical College) student parking lot, Giana observed the same vehicle arrive at the front of the building and immediately went to Security to relay what occurred. Giana Booker is a second-year student in the Criminal Justice program at Charlotte Technical College.

Terence Fazekas, L.A. Ainger School, Grade 6
Terence was honored for his positive behavior. The class played a game to review for their upcoming testing. That afternoon while riding the bus home, Terence observed another classmate playing with one of the game pieces. He questioned the student about having the piece and the other student responded that I had given it to him to keep. The next day, Terence inquired about the game piece, and I told him that I had not given the piece away and that I would address it tomorrow. I thanked him for letting me know. The following morning, the other student returned the stolen game piece, apologizing. That afternoon, Terence asked me discreetly if I had a chance to speak with the other child. I told him no but that he had returned the piece to me. Terence explained that he had spoken with him and that he should return it to me since it was taken without permission. Terence has consistently exhibited outstanding character throughout the school year.

Nevaeh Riner, Murdock Middle School, Grade 6
Nevaeh was honored for rescuing her brother from her grandparents’ pool. As the BBQ pool party was ending and everyone was ready to go inside, Nevaeh’s 2-year-old brother’s vest was off, and he decided to jump back in the pool with no one noticing except Nevaeh. She did not think twice and jumped right in and grabbed her brother.

Trinity Whitley, Port Charlotte High School, Grade 11
Trinity was honored for helping others. Trinity is always there to help people; she would give the shirt off her back to help anyone when needed. She is always helping me around the house as I am disabled and going for back surgery. Trinity will always stop what she is doing to make sure I am okay and to get me whatever is needed to make sure that I do not overdo it myself.