Elks lodge honors community's top students
Sandpoint Elks Lodge No. 1376 has announced students of the month for the first part of 2016 for the Lake Pend Oreille School District.
To be selected as an Elk’s student of the month, students must meet guidelines for character, citizenship, service, scholarship and leadership.
The Elks actively seek to reward youth through many different programs including scholarship awards, Hoop Shoot tournaments, dictionary donations to third graders, drug awareness programs and many other activities and programs.
Sandpoint Elks Lodge award thousands of dollars in scholarships and local students also received an additional money in state and national Elk scholarships. The Elks are the third largest awarder of scholarships in the county and several students have received large scholarships from the state and national level of Elks.
Among those honored were:
n Rose Lily Levy
Rose Lily Levy was selected as student of the month for Clark Fork Jr./Sr. High School for March.
The daughter of Sandy and Bernie Levy, she is junior at Clark Fork Jr./Sr. High School who is graduating early.
She played volleyball, soccer, and is currently playing tennis this year.
Levy has played the clarinet since third grade. She has been working with horses and learning a new method of training called Parelli, or natural horsemanship. Photography is one of her main hobbies and she has won many awards for her photographs.
Levy said she enjoys volunteering and participate in Clark Fork’s Filling Station youth group activities.
She also loves most things to do with computers, such as multimedia programming.
She plans to attend Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., and hopes to earn a doctorate in computer science.
She is ranked fourth in her class with a 3.5 grade point average.
n James Bertrand Cope
James Bertrand Cope was selected as a student of the month for March at Clark Fork Jr/Sr High School.
He is the son of Kelly Cope and Taunia Cope.
Cope is an Eagle scout and started scouting whe he was 8 years old. He attended a week-long National Youth Leadership Training course in the summer 2012 and has been involved in the leadership class at CFHS for three years.
He has played basketball for the Wampus Cats for three years and tennis for four.
He is ranked third in his class with a GPA of 3.6.
In his spare time, he enjoys working, hunting, fishing, hiking, and pretty much anything outdoors. After high school he plans to join the military and serve the United States of America.
n Sarah Marie Wells
Sarah Marie Wells, a senior at Sandpoint High School, was named a student of the month for March.
The daughter of Andrea and Ryan Wells, she has a weighted GPA is 4.295 and an unweighted GPA of 3.940, which ranks her 12 out of 231 students.
She is a National Merit Commended Scholar, a National United States Academic Decathlon medalist, a Journalism Education Association National Write-Off winner, the JEA Idaho Journalist of the Year for 2016, a Business Professionals of America state finalist and national qualifier, and a Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Gold Key laureate in photography.
She attended the National JEA Los Angeles Conference in April to compete for the National Journalist of the Year and had her photography portfolio judged, and the National BPA Boston Conference to compete in graphic design and desktop publishing.
She is the photo editor and news editor of The Cedar Post, a studio artist, an Idaho Early Completer, the designer and editor of the 2016 Sapling and YANA, and a nationals team member for BPA and JEA.
n Benjamin Thomas Reich
Benjamin Thomas Reich was named a student of the month for April at Sandpoint High School.
The son of Debra and Duke Reich, he is the captain of the Sandpoint High School swim team, president of the Human Rights Club, and am secretary of the school’s Health Occupation Students of America Club.
He volunteers often with the Human Rights Club, and am working to achieve my certified nursing association degree via a class associated with HOSA. Between these two activities he will have logged more than 200 volunteer hours by the end of my senior year.
Reich is ranked eighth in his class with a weighted GPA of 4.36 and 4.0 unweighted.
n Paige Riba Crane
Paige Riba Crane was named a student of the month for March at Sandpoint High School.
The daughter of Kathi and Charlie Crane, she has played varsity soccer for three years and earned the Distinguished Individual Scholastic Award for keeping a high GPA during soccer season. In addition, she is a member of the Performing Choir for two years, serving as vice president for a year.
Crane also has been a member of the All-State Honor Choir for two years.
She is a Distinguished Young Woman participant, and winner of Distinguished Young Woman Scholastic Award.
A member of the National Honor Society, she is ranked sixth in her class with a 4.357 GPA.
n Gregory Dwight Marks
Gregory Dwight Marks was named a student of the month for Sandpoint High School for May.
The son of Doug Marks and Sharon Marks, he participates in a lot of activities after school including Pep Band, Men’s Choir, and drama. In addition to these school-related activities, he is involved in many non-school activities, including teaching vocal lessons and drum lessons to local kids.
Marks also serves the choir director at his church, leading a choir of about 15-20 people who meet weekly and perform once a month.
Marks recently received his Eagle Scout rank, which is the highest rank you can earn in the scouting program. He is active in his charch and has spent many hours in service, from spiritual ministering to physical ministering, from splitting wood to pulling weeds, to building sheds.
He is an accomplished musician, having been to the state level for vocal contests three out of his four years at SHS, and received medals twice with one being a blue ribbon for first place.
Marks was chosen, out of all vocalists in the six Northwest states, to be in an honor group of only about 300 people.
Marks has participated in the pit orchestra of a community performance of “The Music Man”, where he was the sole percussionist in an extremely percussion-heavy play.
Marks said he loves music and hopes to be a music education major at college.
n Aunna Emerald
Aunna Emerald was named the student of the month for Lake Pend Oreille High School for April-May.
The daughter of Carol and Tim Emerald, she will graduate June 9.
She has a grade point average of 3.6 and has maintained good grades during her four years at the high school, earning a spot on the honor each quarter.
An avid reader, Aunna Ernerald also has received numerous Literacy Student of the Month awardsand is a prolific writer.
“Writing is my passion,” she said.
She also loves art and choir, taking part in the choir at Sandpoint High School and at Lake Pend Oreille High School.
Emerald also has helped organize prom, participated in all school fundraisers, inclluding the wood raffle and a project for a generous benefactor.
In addition, the teen also has volunteered at the food bank, the blood bank, the Earth Day community cleanup, and the community meal at the United Methodist Church.