Student of the
Month
Sito Sasieta Chaminade College Prepatory School By: Amber Malusky From displaying skills on the soccer field to feeding the hungry, Chaminade College Prepatory School senior Sito Sasieta uses his talents and time to not only better himself, but everyone around him as well. Sasieta was selected as “Get In the Game St. Louis” Magazine’s February Student of the Month. Sasieta’s excellent 4.0 Grade Point Average and his outstanding character and citizenship in and outside of school earned him this achievement. I’m honored and privileged,” Sasieta modestly said. “It’s a blessing and I’m thankful.” Although he was very honored to have been chosen as Student of the Month, Sasieta was sure to say he was no better than anybody else, and many kids at his school could have been chosen for this honor. Chaminade’s Associate Principle of Student Development, Phil Rone nominated Sasieta for the honor. Rone described him as one of the senior class leaders. “He has good grades and is a good athlete,” Rone said proudly. “He has great spiritual growth and is very grounded.” One of Sasieta’s many talents is displayed on the soccer field. He has 4
played soccer all four years of high school and also plays for the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club. Sasieta’s talent doesn’t end on the soccer field. He demonstrates his creativity by writing for the school’s Tarmac Newspaper. This is his fourth year writing for the school newspaper and his second year working as one of the editors. With a combination of creativity and his strong faith in community service, Sasieta started a new “Service Club” at Chaminade. The Service Club has now been in the works for about a month. Sasieta said the twenty-five member club volunteers every Saturday at Father Dempsey’s Charities in St. Louis. Every Saturday, members of the club bring different food items to prepare and cook. When the food is finished, they serve the warm meal to homeless people. Sasieta said he enjoys seeing the thankful expressions on the faces of the people they feed. One of Sasieta’s goals in starting the Service Club at Chaminade is to get his classmates to view community service as more of a privilege rather than an obligation. Sasieta said Chaminade is a great school and has truly shaped him into
FEBRUARY 2010 • GET IN THE GAME SAINT LOUIS
the young man he has become. He gives credit to all of his teachers, but he wanted to give special credit to Chaminade educator and coach, Mike Massa. Sasieta said Massa was an excellent role model and really helped him mature into a young man. “It makes me feel good,” Massa said. “Many teachers want to inspire kids.” With the positive experience he has gotten from Chaminade, Sasieta is considering a career in teaching or becoming a pastor. He said he enjoys helping and teaching others, but he is still unsure of the career path he will choose. Massa said he believes that Sasieta will be successful in anything he wants to do. He said Sasieta has a lot of qualities, and utilizes all of them. “Sito is extremely intelligent and a competitive young man,” Massa said. “He responds to challenges well.” Associate Pastor, Phil Rone said Sasieta is a very mature young man. Rone said Sasieta goes above and beyond to accomplish his goals, and never takes credit for his achievements. Just like the expression, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Sasieta gives a lot of credit to his family for
teaching him good values. “My modest personality comes from my mom,” Sasieta said. “She never takes credit, she works day and night to support me and my two sisters, and she’s an excellent role model.” Sasieta’s parents own a pizza restaurant in Illinois. He said he works a few hours during his summer breaks. Sasieta said having a job has helped him get a sense of the real world and has opened his eyes to all of the blessings he’s been given in life. “Some kids have to work and they work like 25 to 30 hours while going to school,” Sasieta said. “I admire these kids because it has to be hard to work and go to school at the same time.” Sasieta is preparing to end a chapter of his life, come this May. He said graduation will be a bittersweet moment; bitter because he has made so many wonderful memories at Chaminade, and sweet because he’s ready to begin a new chapter in his life. At this point, he is looking into continuing his education at St. Louis University, but he will be making a final decision soon. In the meantime, Sasieta is holding strong to his faith. “I put God first,” Sasieta said. “Everything else will take care of itself.” getinthegamestl.com