ROXANA - Bosten Tinnon is the latest Shine Like Spencer Kindness Award winner at Roxana High School. This is the fifth year of presenting the honor.
The Shine Like Spencer Kindness Award is presented annually to a Roxana High School senior by the Bacus family in honor of their son Spencer Bacus. Spencer was born with a rare birth defect called Giant Congenital Nevus (GCN) which covered most of his body.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Despite the life-long health challenges it caused, he never let it deter him from living a full and lovely life. Even after his first cancer diagnosis in 2013, he came back with a vengeance and became a bodybuilder. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the disease in 2018. Spencer's brain and spinal cord were donated to aid in the research of what causes GCN.
Spencer's brother, Oliver, described Spencer as follows:
"My brother Spencer graduated from Roxana High School in 2012. During his career as a student, he emerged as a leader amongst his classmates and within the school. He served on the student council for four years and starred in many plays and musicals on this very stage; he was a passionate member of the weightlifting club established by the late Mr. Jeff Welker; and he proudly led the marching band for two years as Drum Major.
"He was an Honor Thespian and the Fine Arts Fellow. However, despite those accolades and accomplishments, the legacy he left behind is one of extraordinary kindness and acceptance, self-sacrifice and perseverance through adversity. He is remembered for his unique ability to be a friend-to-all; who always tried to be nice, but never failed to be kind. That is the criteria for this award.
"When my family established this monetary award in 2018 it was with the intention that it be given to the graduating senior who best displays these qualities that characterized Spencer’s positive mindset. The Shine Like Spencer Kindness Award is not a scholarship. Students cannot apply, they must be nominated by a member of the faculty or staff. Often this means that our recipient is someone who does these things humbly and quietly; not to score points with their peers, but simply because it is who they are.
"Our past recipients have come from different backgrounds, run in different circles, and excelled in different areas. But each of them exemplified outrageous kindness and amazing perseverance. They have carried on the legacy that Spencer left behind, and Roxana High School is better because of them."
More like this:
