Area students earn academic honors
Sandpoint Elks Lodge No. 1376 has announced students of the month for area high schools in Bonner and Boundary counties.
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:
December
- Teagan Dieter is a senior at Lake Pend Oreille High School. He earned a 3.6 GPA last quarter, is consistently on the honor roll and retains over 95 percent attendance. Teagan’s extracurricular activity is track and cross country. He has been running since seventh grade and is a member of Sandpoint High School’s cross country and track teams. In his junior year, he obtained a varsity letter at the sports banquet. His time for achieving that letter was 55.14 seconds in the 400-meter dash.
“Running has made me realize that when something gets hard, you don’t give up. You push beyond your limits,” he said. “You push beyond your limits. Running is mentally challenging but by the end of my races,there’s always a positive outcome.”
Teagan’s personal ethic is reflective in all he accomplishes. In addition to his academic and athletic achievements, he maintains a part-time job at Super 1. Teagan wishes to pursue forestry or fish and game as a career goal.
“Commitment, dedication and consistency are the values to which I adhere,” he said.
Teagan is respected by his teachers, coach, classmates and teammates and has earned the honor as an Elks’ student of the month for December.
- Garrett Connolly, a senior at Sandpoint High School, is the son of Bill and Linda Connolly. Garrett is an avid skier and a pitcher on the SHS baseball team. He is a member of the National Honors Society. Garrett plans to attend the University of Utah and major in materials engineering.
Garrett said his most memorable achievement is the baseball field project at Northside Elementary School.
"During the summer between my fifth- and sixth-grade school years, I took it upon myself to renovate the school baseball field," Garrett said.
He went door to door and raised enough money and materials from the community to completely renovate the field and even install a sprinkler system.
- Jennifer Lyn Maddux, the daughter of Ellen and Daniel Maddux, was named an Elks student of the month for Decem-ber.
With a 4.26 GPA, She is ranked number 20 in her senior class at SHS. Jennifer is engaged in several extracurricular activities, including the Interact Club, National Honor Society and Math Club at SHS.
- Levi Servis, a senior at Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School, is a hard working and very nice student, who helps out where there is help needed.
Levi’s work ethic helps him maintain a 3.026 GPA while also having an after school job with machinery. Levi works well with others and is respected amongst his peers. He loves to find new ways to learn and is very curious to learn new things in any way.
Levi has already earned his flagging, heavy machinery, equipment safety, lockout/tagout, electrical safety and arc flash certifications and hopes to acquire his CDL after graduation.
January
- Alex Meredith is a senior at Lake Pend Oreille High School. When he was a junior, Alex made the difficult decision to leave school to care for his ailing father. He also had to work to support his family.
Adversity is all about how you respond to it and, for Alex, who continued to attend night school, it only motivated him to succeed. After his father passed away, he re-enrolled as a full-time student. With the soon-to-be-realized goal of obtaining a diploma, and a sincere desire to return to his alma mater to teach, Alex plans to pursue a degree in secondary education. He has earned a spot on the honor roll for both the first and second quarters.
Alex realizes that “real life experiences push beyond high school years” and that “how you react in the present will affect your future.”
Faculty members at Lake Pend Oreille High School couldn’t be more proud of Alex’s fortitude and academic pursuits.
- Sam Hendricks, a senior at SHS and son of John and Annie Hendricks, is ranked number 11 in his class with a 4.3 GPA.
His activities include serving as a percussionist in symphonic and jazz bands, manager for girls’ basketball team, senior class vice president, and sports editor for the Cedar Post. Sam is a member of the National Honor Society and an Idaho Region I Top Scholar.
- Payton Lee Bokowy, a senior at SHS, is the daughter of Tom and Jacinda Bokowy.
Payton is a competitive swimmer and has competed at state all four years of high school. She won the state title in the 50 and 100 freestyle as a freshman, sophomore, and senior. She also helped the SHS girls swim team win their first ever state title her freshman year. She was captain of the team her junior and senior year, and has broken five school records during her high school career.
This past year, Payton received the scholastic all-American award that qualified her to swim at junior nationals, the fastest 18 and under swim meet in the nation. In addition to working hard in the pool, she maintains a 4.39 GPA and is currently ranked number 7 out of 241 in her class. Throughout high school, she was a member of the National Honors Society for three years, math club for two years, Academic Decathlon for two years and Model United Nations for two years.
February
- Abigail Johnson, a senior at SHS, is the daughter of Kevin and Carla Johnson. Abby's current GPA is a 4.44 and she is ranked third in her class.
She participated in high school soccer for three years, and student council and choir all four years of high school. She is the Region I/II President for all Idaho Student Councils, and was named an Idaho Top Scholar in 2017. She participated in the Distinguished Young Women of Sandpoint program in 2017, and finished as first runner-up and scholastic winner.
- Kyle Vincent Almeida, the senior class secretary and treasurer for Sandpoint High School, is the son of Melanie and Flavio Almeida. Kyle has been involved in music, sports, and many extracurricular activities all four years of high school.
Kyle is currently in Jazz Band I, which meets early in the morning every school day, and was previously in symphonic band, both of which earn honors credit. Since freshmen year, Kyle has competed in many competitions, both individually and with the entire band.
Over the years, he has personally received a superior rating at solo and ensemble, and has been a member of the Spokane Youth Symphony. As a band, he contributed to three gold ratings, one silver rating, and an honorable mention award at music festivals both in Seattle his freshmen year, and San Francisco his junior Year.
In addition to music, he has been involved in cross country and track and field all four years of high school, serving as a captain for the guys' team the past two seasons in both sports. Kyle is also a member of the National Honor Society, French Club, Math Club, and Student Leadership.
With a 4.180 GPA, Kyle is ranked number 35 out of 241 in his class.