Nice To Meet You, I’m Luke!

My name is Luke Lacilla and I am a student at Litchfield Middle School. I enjoy school, sports, and being involved in my community here in Litchfield, it’s such a fun town. I maintain an “A” grade point average, play competitive basketball, Track and Cross Country. I also love to golf, play tennis and do a little boating. I am taking an online course to get my boating license and should have it in the Spring of 2023. I enjoy playing the piano in my spare time and I work at Petraroia Deli in my town where I wash dishes, clean tables, and take out the trash. Litchfield is a small town where my friends like riding our bikes, hanging out at Community Field, or walking in town to get something to eat.

When I am not busy with school, sports, or work, you can usually find me helping in my community. I volunteer at the Torrington Soup Kitchen serving meals to the homeless and those in need of a hot meal. In addition, I volunteer at the Possum Queen foundation raising money to help families with medical expenses and I help at the Oliver Wolcott Library, an event called “The Festival of Trees in November.

I am a brother to my two sisters Brooke and Madison of which we share a very close and special friendship. My parents have always instilled the importance of family and that no one is going to care about me more than my parents and my siblings so we always have and will have a bond and friendship that will never be broken or replaced.

I began my schooling at St. Johns a private Catholic School located in Watertown CT (pre-K Thru 5^th grade with an A average and participated in cross country, basketball, guitar and a few school plays). I was the first student to race competitively with the 5th thru 8^th graders when I was only in 2^nd grade. My parents had to sign some kind of letter saying they would not hold the school responsible if I got run over by the bigger boys, I think that’s why I ran so fast. In my first race as a 3rd grader I placed 14^th out of 86 runners which was a combination of 6 different local schools grades 5^th thru 8th. I moved to Litchfield at age 11 and began 6^th grade at the Intermediate School and I am currently at Litchfield Middle School where I have had held Outstanding Honors with an A average while excelling in Sports such as Cross Country and Basketball.

While in School I’ve been able to maintain an A average with outstanding honors for grade 7 and on track to do the same for the fall semester grade 8. In addition, I continue to work in my community. First, at our local Soup Kitchen in Torrington where I serve meals to the homeless and those people that cannot afford a nutritious meal. I also volunteer my time to a foundation called “The Possum Queen”,  where me and my two sisters, Brooke and Madison founded what is known as “The Little Possums”.  The Little Possumme was an idea that all three of us formed and approached the Vice President Mr. Bongiorno of the PQ. We asked if we could form the Little Possums, bringing in kids from around town and the local schools to help raise money and create awareness for The Possum Queen. Mr. Bongiorno and the other board members loved the idea and “The Little Possums” was born.

PQF could help purchase a wheelchair for someone that suffered a bad accident or has other health problems.  We can help arrange for meals or groceries to be brought for someone that just spent their last dollar on medical expenses, basically anyone that has fallen on hard times.

I also hold a job at our local Deli in the center of town called Petraroia Deli where I wash dishes, clean tables, take out the trash and basically do whatever my employer asks me to do. I am very lucky at age 14 to even have this job. I was working for my dad when I was 12 years old building these kits, then shipping out products but my dad said I needed to work for someone else and get some experience in a place where I don’t know anyone. He said this would allow me to be in an unfamiliar place where I would need to find my own way. I did not really understand what he meant but I do now. He told me to walk down the street (we live in town and I can walk to almost any place) and go see the new owner of the Deli that just opened up this summer and tell the owner you want to fill out an application. The owners Mr. and Mrs. Jennette were a little surprised as I was only 14 but they appreciated my willingness to work at a young age and told me he never had anyone that wanted a job this young but he found a spot for me. I only work 7 hours a week but I love working with everyone. They seem to like me a lot and I get free pizza and other foods sometimes when I work.

If you want to know who I am, I am a 14-year-old boy who loves living in the small town of Litchfield. I love my School, my friends, my work, and most of all my family. My personality is one where I tend to listen much more than I speak. I can be somewhat quiet in a newer surroundings and I tend to have a very diverse group of friends. Most of the people I know have one group of friends but I have 2 or 3 different groups.