Three Students Celebrated as “Students of the Month”
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBy: Carter Brabec, a freshman at Leigh High School
In the first “Student of the Month” presentation, Makenna Held, Dalton Zulkoski, and Jessica Hoffman were chosen as this year’s first recipients.
To achieve this award, students in grades 7-12 are nominated by their teachers. They can be nominated for many reasons, from showing kindness to doing well in academics. There are usually dozens of nominations, and then the teachers vote on the nominations each month to choose two or three winners. The student can’t win the award more than one time throughout the school year. This is a very prestigious award to win in high school, as only about 15 are chosen each year.
The first of this year’s recipients is senior Makenna Held. Makenna is the daughter of Keal and Heather Held. Her grandparents are the late Robert Held and Lorraine Held, and Mike and Joy Malena. Makenna is highly involved in school activities. She enjoys participating in Volleyball, Basketball, FFA, FBLA, Journalism, Choir, National Honor Society, Steps at Tiffany's Dance, Youth Advisory Committee, and One-Act. Her favorite subjects in school are Life Skills or Statistics.
Makenna’s favorite hobbies to do out of school are hanging out with friends, working at the Buckle, and shopping. She plans to attend the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, majoring in Accounting and minoring in Ag business.
“It feels awesome to win this award,” Held said. “I have never won it before and it's cool that students can get recognition for doing good things!”
Here is what the teachers had to say about Makenna Held:
--Makenna is an extremely smart, hard-working student who is a senior leader in our school. She excels in all she does and is very modest about all her talents.
--Makenna has taken on a way bigger role in the play than she has ever had before, and she has stepped up to the challenge. I have also been impressed with her work as our new YAC president, as she is already taking steps to promote and plan our annual Christmas Festival. She is highly involved in so many activities and a leader in all she does. Plus, she is kind to others and hard working in the classroom.
The second winner is junior Jessica Hoffman.
Jessica's parents' names are Ryan and Kelli Hoffman. Her grandparents are Roger and Karen Bruhn of Leigh and Terry and Bonnie Hoffman of Wakefield.
Jessica participates in Basketball, One-Act, Journalism, Yearbook, FCCLA, FBLA, Youth Advisory Committee, and National Honor Society.
Her favorite subjects in school are science and art. Her favorite hobbies outside of school are babysitting, spending time with her cat, and hanging out with friends and family.
Jessica is planning on attending Hastings Central Community College to study dental hygiene.
This is the first time I have won this award. Jessica said, "It felt really good to win this award and be recognized for the work that I am doing. This award shows students that putting in the extra effort doesn't go unrecognized, and I am so grateful that I was able to win."
Here is what the teachers had to say about Jessica:
--“Jessica is extremely helpful in class, willing to contribute in the class and puts in extra work for her extracurriculars. She is a talented student who puts out her best effort, always has a positive attitude, and is a leader in the class.”
--Jessica has really grown into an upperclassman leader in the past few years. She is positive, she works hard, and she is willing to take charge in a leadership situation where others might not be.”
The final winner is junior Dalton Zulkoski. Dalton is the son of Kelly and Phillip Wendt and Ross and Rebecca Zulkoski
Dalton is highly involved in school activities. He enjoys participating in Basketball, Football, One-Act, FFA, YAC, and Golf. His favorite subject in school is math.
Dalton's favorite hobbies to do out of school are showing animals, working, and hanging with friends and family. He plans to go into some kind of career where he can use math skills. He thinks a banker, accountant, or construction management, but he is not entirely sure.
Dalton is also a first-time recipient of this award.
“It is really nice to win this award because I’ve never won before,” Dalton said.
Here is what the teachers had to say about Dalton:
--I feel as though Dalton has matured a lot in the past couple years. He has grown to be a leader in the classroom and puts his academics as a high priority. He had AR points by week third or fourth week of the quarter, and he asked numerous questions seeking to get better in both of my classes.
--Dalton has grown in the classroom and his extracurricular activities. He always has a positive attitude and is helpful when needed. Furthermore, he is just a fun kid to talk to, and he can have a nice conversation with anyone, which is a great quality to have.
Congrats to the first winners of Student of the Month!