The Switzerland County School Board held its April meeting on Monday night, and again the school board honored students from each of the four buildings as the “Celebrating Success” winners for the month.
Students are nominated by a teacher in the building; and one winner is then selected from those nominations by the building principal. Students and parents are then invited to the school board meeting; where each student is recognized and receives a pin of appreciation from the school board.
This month’s winners include:
– At Switzerland County Middle School, this month’s winner is seventh grader Janki Patel. She was nominated by teacher Jill Cord and the seventh grade team, and the nomination was endorsed by principal Nancy Stearns.
In her letter of recommendation, Jill Cord wrote:
” ‘Enthusiastic,’ ‘conscientious,’ ‘inquisitive,’ and, ‘driven’ are all adjectives which the seventh grade team members of the Switzerland County Middle School use to describe the academic attributes of our student, Janki Patel whom we have recommended as our school’s April ‘Celebrate Success’ recipient.
“The team members and I feel that Janki is especially deserving of this special recognition because she is an extremely special student and an extraordinarily warm and caring young teen.
“Just two years ago Janki lived in Ahmedabad, a town in India where the native language is Gugrati. Last year Janki moved to Alexandria, Kentucky with her parents and this year to Switzerland County. Janki’s ability to comprehend, speak, and write the English language as a native of India is astounding. She is a true grammar student who wants to truly understand the structure of English and the finer points of her new language.
“Janki is consistently named to the straight ‘A’ honor roll at the middle school and is regularly recognized for her commendable attitude and behavior. Janki not only models how a committed student should behave in class but also how a student should treat those adults and students with whom he/she comes into contact every day.
“Janki is caring and warm, respectful and appreciative. Janki displays these personal characteristics daily by automatically replying ‘thank you’ when a teacher answers a question for her or by asking ‘May I help you with something?’ when she has completed her schoolwork during a class period.
“An example which can best illustrate the type of student Janki Patel is relates to the poem which she selected for a recent poetry presentation. Most students in the seventh grade language arts class reluctantly selected a 12-15 line poem for memorization while Janki selected Rudyard Kipling’s 32 line poem, ‘If’ for memorizing and presenting to other students in our school. In regular ‘Janki-form,’ Janki not only recited all 32 lines of her poem flawlessly to numerous other children but she was also able to interpret each line of this poem which is often considered a guidepost for how each individual should attempt to live his or her life with honor and integrity.
“Janki is not only a truly exceptional language arts student, Janki’s math teacher, Mrs. Gault, states that Janki solves her seventh grade algebra problems to perfection every math period. When she was administered her ISTEP exam Janki could be observed painstakingly contemplating the solution for each problem and then using two different methods to solve each in order to double check her work and to be certain that she had answered each question perfectly. Yes, seven grader, Janki Patel, is a cut above the rest, an extraordinarily talented student and a genuinely good person who definitely deserves the special recognition the Celebrate Success award affords her.”
– This month’s recipient from Switzerland County High School is senior Emilee Waldron. She was nominated by teacher Rosalind Harrell, and the nomination was approved by principal Candis Haskell.
In her letter of recommendation, Rosalind Harrell wrote:
“Without question, content ranks as the most important ingredient of any message. But how the recipient receives, perceives and remembers that communication greatly depends on the sender’s style and fluency. The choice and configuration of words make all the difference in the quality and presentation of any message.
“Emilee Waldron, a student in my senior college-bound English class, truly honors that principle. Like all good writers, long after she turns away from the computer keyboard, she can recite major parts of her text by heart. She continually works and tweaks her copy until it abounds with substance, details and literary rhythm. A true pleasure to have in class, she consistently implements verb power to tighten, color and enhance copy.
“Her use of fluency techniques, such as participles, appositives and adverbial clauses, eliminates writer verbosity and lets ideas merge and flow freely. To establish credibility, her copy incorporates statistics, expert opinion, anecdotes and research studies. Sporting a sea of pencil markings and arrows, her first drafts reflect the emphasis this blossoming writer places on editing and polishing.
“As a teacher, I have been multi-blessed. Emilee also excelled in my etymology and speech classes. This exemplary writer-student certainly makes Switzerland county High School proud to call her ‘one of our own.'”
– At Switzerland County Elementary School, this month’s recipient is first grader Leah Anders, who was nominated by teacher Debbie Allen, and the nomination was endorsed by principal Mike Jones.
In her letter of recommendation, Debbie Allen wrote:
“Leah Anders is a student in Mrs. Allen’s First Grade Class at S.C.E.S. She has been on the All ‘A’ Honor Roll all year. Leah always does her very best and has achieved academic success in every way. She is a member of Student Council and has achieved over 150 points in the Reading Counts Program. I can always depend on her kindness and helpfulness in any task that needs to be done. All of my students love her as much as I do.”
– Jefferson-Craig’s honored student for April is third grader Maddie Gullion, who was nominated by her teacher, Sandy Jones, and also by her second grade teacher, Angie Todd. This nomination was approved by principal Dr. Elizabeth Jones.
In their letter of recommendation, the teachers wrote:
Angie Todd wrote: “Maddie was an outstanding student. She always took a lot of pride in her work. She was a joy to have in class and was always ready for a challenge.”
Sandy Jones wrote: “Maddie continues to do exceptional work in her third grade studies. She has been in the Principal’s Club and on the straight A Honor Roll all year. She was selected to participate in the Chinese language instruction at Jeff-Craig. On her math ISTEP test this year, Maddie received a Pass+. She has excellent attendance with a 98.6 percent average. She is always willing to help another student in need. Maddie is a tremendous young lady with a big heart and a bright future.”