Way to go! Sarah Connor, Northport

Sarah Connor, a sixth-grader at Northport Middle School, is one of two New York students named 2011 state honorees by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a national program that honors outstanding acts of volunteerism.

Connor was chosen for raising $4,000 to plant 20 cherry trees this spring on Main Street in the Village of Northport. She raised the funds by running a lemonade stand during the village's Cow Harbor Day festival and its Memorial Day parade.

She also has been selling hot chocolate this winter at a sledding hill on Valley Road.

"Trees are very important to help take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere," Connor said. "I'm just a kid. I'm not planting millions of trees or raising millions of dollars, but I'm doing what I can about something I think is important."

Connor conceived the tree replacement idea in 2009 when she noticed some of them had been removed or knocked down on Main Street due to storm damage.

For winning, she received $1,000, a silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., this spring for a ceremony that will honor all 102 honorees.

Connor is a reporter on her school's student newspaper and a member of her school's Art Club and Mural Club.