Student of the Month: December 2012
Andrea Seager is the language arts student of the month because she is consistent. She consistently completes every assignment, consistently gets the highest scores, and consistently turns things in on time. I don’t need to constantly remind her to “fill the page” in her writing notebook because she does it anyway…every time! And she aces every reading quiz. In other words, she is exactly the sort of student you would expect to get an award like this. So, rather than belabor that point, I’ll tell you a few things about the person behind all the great work. Or maybe I’ll just let her tell you:
“I am from the hustling home where there is always a project to be done and an adventure to be had,” she writes in a poem, “…from sarcasm and laughter…waking up insanely early each Sunday morning…from the radiant screens of iPads which seem to follow me around the house….”
In her Writing Notebook, Andrea’s modest self-assessment included this: “I am a pretty good student. I am on time, I participate, I study, and I can be a little obsessive about getting A’s, which I find isn’t necessarily a bad thing.” While Andrea sees herself as “a little obsessive,” I have never picked up on that. At the end of last term when half of the Honors English students were reeling at the possibility of not getting the easy A’s they had become accustomed to, Andrea was writing the extra credit essay…just in case she needed it. (She didn’t.) That illustrates what I admire about her: She doesn’t bargain, grovel, wheedle, or plead for her grades. She just earns ‘em. And that quality seems to get rarer every year, which is why I appreciate it all the more.
One other thing: Remember how I started by telling you about her consistency? Well, that quality applies not only to her academics but also to her wardrobe. This kid is so “put together” every day that her friends not only joke about it, but even I – a creature completely and obviously without a sense of fashion – have noticed it. Most ninth graders have good days and bad days on this front: sweats one day, dress up for seminary the next. Andrea looks dressed up every day – like a full-on outfit: matching scarves, jackets, the works! I really wish I could have seen that ‘80s Halloween costume she wrote about wearing this year: “…hair ratted a mile high, leg warmers, and a bright pink sweater…I wish I could wear the leg warmers every day! Who doesn’t want to wear bright neon clothes that do not match?”
Yeah, right. She’d accessorize and the next day everyone would be doing it.
I just wish her work ethic and consistency would rub off as well.
“I am from the hustling home where there is always a project to be done and an adventure to be had,” she writes in a poem, “…from sarcasm and laughter…waking up insanely early each Sunday morning…from the radiant screens of iPads which seem to follow me around the house….”
In her Writing Notebook, Andrea’s modest self-assessment included this: “I am a pretty good student. I am on time, I participate, I study, and I can be a little obsessive about getting A’s, which I find isn’t necessarily a bad thing.” While Andrea sees herself as “a little obsessive,” I have never picked up on that. At the end of last term when half of the Honors English students were reeling at the possibility of not getting the easy A’s they had become accustomed to, Andrea was writing the extra credit essay…just in case she needed it. (She didn’t.) That illustrates what I admire about her: She doesn’t bargain, grovel, wheedle, or plead for her grades. She just earns ‘em. And that quality seems to get rarer every year, which is why I appreciate it all the more.
One other thing: Remember how I started by telling you about her consistency? Well, that quality applies not only to her academics but also to her wardrobe. This kid is so “put together” every day that her friends not only joke about it, but even I – a creature completely and obviously without a sense of fashion – have noticed it. Most ninth graders have good days and bad days on this front: sweats one day, dress up for seminary the next. Andrea looks dressed up every day – like a full-on outfit: matching scarves, jackets, the works! I really wish I could have seen that ‘80s Halloween costume she wrote about wearing this year: “…hair ratted a mile high, leg warmers, and a bright pink sweater…I wish I could wear the leg warmers every day! Who doesn’t want to wear bright neon clothes that do not match?”
Yeah, right. She’d accessorize and the next day everyone would be doing it.
I just wish her work ethic and consistency would rub off as well.
posted by MRT at 8:05 AM
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