Each month during the meeting of the Switzerland County School Board, each building principal nominates a student for the “Celebrating Success” award.
Those honored at Monday night’s meeting included:
— From Switzerland County Elementary School, teacher Marla Edwards nominated fifth grade student Kyle Brubaker. In her letter of recommendation, Marla Edwards wrote:
“I would like to nominate Kyle Brubaker for the Celebrating Success Award. Kyle is a fifth grader at SCES. He has been an Honor Roll student each year during his elementary school years, as well as maintaining Perfect Attendance during these years. Kyle has also scored Pass+ on his ISTEP tests both years he has taken them.
“Last year, Kyle was one of our Spell Bowl members, and at the last minute he had to be called upon to be one of our spellers at the competition. Kyle ‘stepped up to the plate’ and did a remarkable job. He was awesome and helped our team earn first place. Kyle is a bright young man who is very excited about school and life. He is a dedicated student and one who will have a bright future.”
— At Jefferson-Craig Elementary School, fourth grader Ryan Sullivan was nominated by principal Darrell Hansel. In his letter of recommendation, Principal Hansel wrote:
“Ryan is a great young man who is an asset to Jeff-Craig. Ryan is always pleasant and can often be found helping other students. Ryan recently received some notoriety because of his accomplishments on the golf course. At Cozy Acres Golf Course he surprised both he and his dad; on hole one, Ryan fittingly enough made a hole-in-one.
“Hopefully, Ryan will continue receiving notoriety in the future as a member of the SCHS golf team.”
— From Switzerland County Middle School, sixth grade student Samantha Helt was nominated by the Sixth Grade teaching team. In their letter of nomination, they wrote:
“The sixth grade team wishes to announce Samantha Helt as Student of the Month. Samantha has achieved great successes in the sixth grade in the following areas: Honesty: Samantha found money which did not belong to her, and turned it in to the staff; Helpful: In Mrs. McGarvey’s class, Samantha lends a ‘helping hand’ to others in need; and Academic Success: Samantha has a 100-percent A+ average in all of her core subjects. Her last tests in science and social studies have also been perfect scores, including bonus sections.”
— Sophomore Sean Tatum was nominated by teachers Janett Boling and Ginny Reeves. In their letter, the teachers write:
“Sean is a creative young man with a special gift for writing poetry. This summer he used his talents to help children who are critically ill at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis.
“Sean’s mother works as a night nurse at Riley. Sean started his experience by going to work with his mother and doing a stand-up comedy routine for the nurses at the dinner hour. Some of the nurses thought the children would enjoy his comedy.
“Sean spent his first evening with the children in a small room at the hospital doing his comedy routine. The children loved it. Sean also played games, such as hide-and-seek and duck-duck-goose, with the children who were able to come to the play room.
“As Sean spent more nights at the hospital, he noticed that several children were alone in their rooms and were not able to come and play. He decided to go to the rooms and talk with the children. Sometimes he would play Scrabble, tell jokes, write poetry, or just be a presence in the room of a critically ill patient. He was able to discuss patient needs with the nurses.
“On 10-year old boy had been in a horrible car crash. Sean inspired the child to be a stand-up comic when he got better. A critically ill three-month old baby had Sean’s presence through the night by his bedside.
“A special request for Sean came from a little boy who had cancer and had never seen the sun except from his window. He wanted Sean to write him a poem about the sun. Sean’s poem remains in a picture frame with the child.
“Sean’s experiences with the children have helped him determine some goals for his own life. He wants to explore careers in working with children.
“We commend Sean for giving of himself to brighten the lives of children at Riley Hospital. We think he is most deserving of the Celebrate Success award.”