Sarah Bess Rowen: 2005 Stifel Award Recipient
April 29, 2005

Each year Henry G. Stifel III ’83 returns to Pingry’s Martinsville campus to present an outstanding senior with an award named for him. On Monday, April 25, 2005 Henry’s return paired him with school nurse Joanne Childs and counselor Michael Richardson, who named Sarah Bess Rowen as this year’s Stifel Award recipient. Bess, a student who, like Henry, has demonstrated courage, endurance, optimism, compassion, and spirit in the face of adversity, was diagnosed with Type I insulin dependent diabetes at the age of five. As Ms. Childs explains, the illness forces Bess to regularly monitor her blood sugar levels and self-administer injections of insulin. If she is not careful, Bess can become susceptible to low blood levels that can affect her performance and potentially cause long-term damage to her body. Nevertheless, Bess has not allowed her diagnosis to hamper her activities, goals, aspirations, or energy. She works on staying healthy every day and participates in a number of activities. Bess has a first-degree black belt Tae Kwon Do, is a member of the Blue Key, drama and bass choir, and plays the trombone and clarinet. Bess has even taken up sports and played for the water polo and lacrosse teams during her freshman and sophomore years. An ice hockey lover, she spent this year as team captain. In addition to her extracurricular activities, Bess has volunteered for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) since she was five-years old and has participated in many walkathons and fundraisers. As the youth chair for America’s Walk for Diabetes in Union County, she has helped raise more than $10,000, and this past spring, the teen walkathon that she created raised more than $60,000. Bess is a featured speaker for the ADA, has helped other newly diagnosed teens through the struggles of their first year, and has taken up the prevention of Type II diabetes as another of her causes. Like all of Bess’ teachers, Al Romano believes that Bess is a crusader. He says, “She’s a superhuman being who does it all. She takes personal pride in doing her best.” Henry Stifel, who became paralyzed in a car accident 19 years ago and is partnered with the former Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, now called the American Paralysis Foundation, describes Bess as the epitome of his self-named award, an advocate for change. He advised the students by saying, “You can make a difference in another’s life … you just have to be willing to help. You don’t need a condition … One person can change world.” Bess shares her life motto by quoting a scene from Harry Potter in which Albus Dumbledore speaks to Harry. She says, “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are … it is our choices.” © 2005 The Pingry School