Area's top students receive academic honors
The Sandpoint Elks are celebrating the community's top students as part of the lodge's student of the month program.
To be selected as an Elks student of the month, students must meet guidelines for character, citizenship, service, scholarship and leadership.
Selected for September at Sandpoint High School are Torin Haesle and Zella Lopez; selected for October are Madeleine Mitchell and Alton Dail; and selected for November are Bailey Lancaster and Lane Harris.
The Elks actively seeks 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 awards 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.
Torin Swift Haesle — The son of John and Trienne Haesle, the SHS senior was named an Elks student of the month for September.
Haesle, devotes his time during the school year to cross country and track; playing alto-saxophone in the Jazz, Symphonic and Pep bands; competing on the Academic Decathlon team; and as a member of the National Honor Society and Math Club. During the summer, Haesle volunteers weekly at Bonner General Health, builds airplanes with the ACES Aerospace program and has participated in the six-week Summer Science Program at Purdue and foreign exchange to Argentina.
Haesle's achievements include being captain of the cross country team, a three-time member of the AcaDeca state championship team, and receiving the Bonner General Health Excellence in Service award and scholarship.
He is currently ranked first in his class of 227 students with a weighted GPA of 4.4. In the future, Haesle hopes to attend Purdue University to study biomedical engineering on a pre-med track. He is interested in becoming a pediatrician or research scientist with a focus on medical equity in rural areas.
Zella Sue Lopez — The daughter of Rich and Suzette Lopez, the SHS senior was named an Elks student of the month for September.
Lopez is employed by the East Bonner County Library District as a page and enjoys the work she does. In her free time she enjoys sewing, doing nails, painting and reading.
She is an accomplished pianist, has several piano students and plays the organ. Last year, she had the opportunity of participating in the Distinguished Young Women program where she won second runner-up, winning in the talent, scholastic, and "Be Your Best Self" categories.
She hopes to attend either Utah State or BYU Provo for a year then go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after her mission she plans to obtain her master's degree in library science. She is a 4.0 student, 21st in her class.
Maddie Mitchell The daughter of William Mitchell and Laura Brandon, the SHS senior was selected as a student of the month for October.
Throughout her high school career, Madeleine Mitchell has been actively involved, participating in the National Honor Society for three years before being elected president this year. She is also a captain of the varsity soccer team this year after playing for all years of her high school career. Madeleine also has played on the lacrosse team for the past three years.
In school, she is the editor-in-chief of the high school yearbook, Monticola. For the last four years, Madeleine has been the pianist for Jazz 1 at the high school. Madeleine has maintained a GPA of 4.46 (weighted) throughout her years at Sandpoint High School, ranking second for weighted GPA in her graduating class. Next year, she hopes to attend a high-ranked university where she plans to study political science on the pre-law track.
Alton Dail — Alton Dail, better known as Fisher to his friends and classmates, is a varsity tennis athlete, who recently earned the Outstanding Athlete Award, while also keeping a 4.0, 4.37 weighted. He was selected as a student of the month for October.
He is an Idaho Science and Aerospace scholar, an NHS member, and plans to study aerospace engineering in college and achieve a bachelor's degree at a top engineering school, which includes Purdue, and Georgia Tech among others on his application list.
Bailey Lancaster — The daughter of Chris Lancaster and Katie Petrik, the SHS senior was selected as a student of the month for November.
Bailey Lancaster has been an involved student throughout her years at Sandpoint High School. She has participated in Sandpoint High School softball as well as The North, a travel softball team.
Bailey has also been a member of the National Honors Society for the past two years. She was a member of the Academic Decathlon team from 9th to 11th grade. Additionally, she received a Top Scholar Award for being ranked in the top 10% of her class, and has a weighted GPA of 4.2.
After high school Bailey plans to continue playing softball in college, and plans to get a degree in either psychology or philosophy.
Lane Harris — The Sandpoint High School senior was named an Elks student of the month for November.
Harris is a member of the Sandpoint High School Symphonic and Jazz bands, a member of the National Honor Society and the school's tennis team. He is ranked third in his class with a 4.0 unweighted GPA.
The SHS senior plans to attend the University of Idaho and plans to become an engineer.
Lopez
Dail
Lancaster
Harris
Mitchell