When student council advisor Deanne Moore suggested that Michael Page, then a junior at Hingham High School, apply to the Alexander Hamilton Award, he had never heard of the award before. But after looking at the award web site, Michael decided he’d apply. Michael was selected as one of 25 winners of the Gold Level Hamilton Award.

The gold award package consists of a $500 check; the 2003 award-winning biography of Alexander Hamilton signed by its author, Ron Chernow; a gold award certificate; a gold award proclamation; and a crisp $10 bill, which bears the portrait of Alexander Hamilton. Gold winners are also enrolled in the Hamilton Scholars Educational Program, which concentrates on three core curriculum areas: empowerment, young adult transition, and heritage issues.

Hingham High School Principal Paula Girouard McCann said Michael joins a truly remarkable group of young men and women from across the United States, representing a wide range of high schools from Miami, Florida, to Honolulu, Hawaii.  

 “Michael fully personifies the award’s five leadership criteria: ‘community service, participation in school extracurricular activities, scholastic acumen, entrepreneurial skill, and personal achievement.’  We are very proud of Michael’s accomplishments,” she said.  ”He is an excellent student, a terrific leader, and an excellent choice for this recognition.”

The Alexander Hamilton Award recognizes high school students who possess significant personal and service achievements and who desire to achieve great things for themselves, their community, and their country. The Alexander Hamilton Friends Association, a non-profit organization whose vision statement is “Preserving Alexander Hamilton’s Legacy to Energize Tomorrow’s Leaders”, offers educational programs designed to empower students’ dreams and gain an appreciation for their nation’s founding, scholarships and fellowships to keep them debt-free through college, and career development programs to assist them as they transition to productive adulthood. All of their programs are designed with one thing in mind: to enhance Hamiltonian-style greatness in American life.

Students’ applications are judged in several categories. Each student must be a high achiever, excited and positive about the future, generally involved and engaged in community affairs, and perceived by peers as a leader. The association then judges students on five leadership criteria: community service, participation in school extracurricular activities, scholastic acumen, entrepreneurial skill, and personal achievement. 
    Michael says that he wanted the focus of his application to reflect his involvement in school. He is president of the HHS Class of 2009; he organized a junior auction and talent showcase; he helped organize the Green Committee; he’s a member of the student council, and as if he didn’t have enough to do, he started a weather web site (www.hinghamweather.com) to feed his passion for meteorology.

“It’s something I really love,” he says. “There’s a joke in my family that whenever I’m interested in something I go all out!”

 Not only does Michael maintain his web site, but he also reports local weather first, to the National Weather Service, and then to the local news channels. With a 5.5 GPA on a 6-point scale at mid-year (roughly an A-), Page is on the honor society and participates in community events around town, like the telethon for the Hingham Education Foundation. “I really enjoy organizing things,” he says.

Michael foresees his future in meteorology and has been investigating colleges that have excellent meteorology and atmospheric science programs. He is interested in several colleges such as Lyndon State College in Vermont, MIT, Yale University, Cornell University, Penn State, and Rutgers. “I want to stay on the east coast,” Michael says. “I like New England.”  

Michael says he has always been an achiever, with no pressure from his parents to do so.

“They have always said to do what makes you happy,” he says. “They haven’t forced anything on me. A lot of teenagers can’t say they like their family. I do. I have no real problem with them. They let me do what I want, within reason. We have a lot of respect for each other, too, which really helps.”