The Switzerland County School Board met on Monday night for its regular monthly meeting, and as always one of the highlights of the evening was the honoring of this month’s “Celebrating Success” winners.
Each school selects an honoree. That student is nominated by a teacher, and the nominations are scrutinized by the principal, who sends the final selection to the superintendent.
Each of the nominees was then honored at Monday’s meeting.
April’s honorees included:
— Fourth grader Breanna Ricketts was honored from Jefferson-Craig Elementary School, and was nominated by physical education teacher Fred Ross.
In his letter of recommendation, Fred Ross said:
“Breanna Ricketts is being nominated for Celebrating Success because she is an exceptional scholar athlete. Breanna is a gifted athlete who works very hard in gym class. She enjoys playing soccer, basketball, softball, and volleyball. Breanna is an ‘A-B’ Honor Roll student while competing in an indoor soccer league. She also participates in our intramural basketball and volleyball programs, ad plays softball at the Markland Dam, all during the school year.
“Breanna is a pleasure to have in class because she is always exhibiting good sportsmanship. We are very fortunate, at Jefferson-Craig, to have a student like Breanna Ricketts and it will be fun watching her mature into a great student athlete over the years.”
— At Switzerland County Elementary School, fifth grader Jennifer Johnson was honored. She was nominated by music teacher Tammy Beitzel.
In her letter of nomination, Tammy Beitzel wrote:
“Jennifer is an outstanding young lady who excels in music. She has shared her beautiful voice to sing the “Star Spangled Banner” for our Veterans Day program (one of the hardest songs to sing). She did an equally memorable job singing for the Christmas program. Jennifer is also a gifted songwriter.
“Jennifer is an excellent student. This year she has been on the ‘All A’ Honor Roll every nine weeks and for the semester. Jennifer is a dedicated student with a 98-percent attendance rate.
“I see a glorious future for Jennifer. She has certainly been an asset to our school music program.”
— At Switzerland County Middle School, eighth grader Storm Hinman was nominated by Jefferson-Craig teacher Kathy Daugherty.
Her letter of recommendation stated:
“Storm Hinman is being nominated for Celebrating Success because he is a conscientious student. He cares not only about himself and his work, but he cares about others as well. He is polite, courteous, respectful, and has good manners. He saw a teacher having trouble coming into the building. Instead of ignoring the situation, he came to the rescue.
“He picked up a heavy bag of items and insisted on carrying it all the way to where it was going. He did this while many of his peers watched without offering to help. Storm was not afraid to do what he knew was the polite thing to do. Storm should be applauded for the courage and respect that he demonstrates each and every day. We are fortunate to have students like Storm setting an example at Switzerland County Middle School.”
— Ryan Rugg was nominated for this month’s honor by teacher Rosalind Harrell from Switzerland County High School.
Her nomination letter read:
“With Ryan Rugg, quality is a personal trademark. Ryan will enjoy both collegiate and personal success because of his enthusiasm to learn, commitment to task, respect for rules, and desire to achieve academically.
“He was recently accepted at Transylvania University, a definite honor. I have had the pleasure of having Ryan in numerous classes, College Bound English (Grades 10 and 12), Etymology and Speech Communications. In all four classes, he has worked hard to meet the demands in exemplary fashion. He never complains about an assignment. Committed to giving his best, he immediately charges ahead. And on a personal level, he is always polite and respectful to everyone.
“I cannot remember Ryan ever missing or being late on an assignment. Ryan Rugg is definitely a pleasure to have in class, as well as a point of pride for Switzerland County High School.”