Troy Polamalu

Feb28

February Student of The Month Winner Announcement

After reading through a new batch of inspiring students for the month of February, I’ve settled on Vanessa, 11th grader at Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, for this round of Student of the Month.

Vanessa, originally from Jamaica, has taken the challenge of being in a new country and has, as her teacher has conveyed, tackled it with discipline, diligence, and dependability. She has found great success in her education by pushing herself, setting goals, and accepting criticism. On top of striving for excellence in her personal goals concerning her schoolwork, she also puts others ahead of her, racking up hundreds of hours of volunteering in community service. Vanessa is a young woman who goes above and beyond, and I believe it will take her far in life.

I will be sending Vanessa the gift basket pictured right as a token of appreciation for her outstanding achievements as a student. Thanks to English teacher Rosemary for writing in about Vanessa. You can read her full entry below this post.

March is now open for entries, so head over here to nominate your students for this month.

God bless,
Troy

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Competing is easy when you are surrounded by worthy opponents. However, when placed in circumstances where the competition is not too challenging, students can easily lose their focus. Vanessa, however, is the most focused individual I know. She arrived from Jamaica several years ago with a plan to take advantage of the opportunities the United States has to offer. With discipline, diligence, and dependability, Vanessa earns excellent grades every quarter. As her English teacher, I have the pleasure of reading her essays which are clever and insightful when interpreting literary works. She possesses an unusual maturity when discussing books we have read and has a beautiful, open mind which possesses no preconceived notions or prejudices. She is a leader amongst her peers because she is a constant example of someone who is always pushing herself, setting goals, and accepting criticism. Vanessa welcomes comments on papers in my class and all her other classes because she wants to know how to improve herself. At times our school allows the undisciplined souls of this world to disrupt class time, but not Vanessa. She remains true to herself and does not allow the naysayers of her generation to distract her from the goals she has set for herself. In addition, to earning excellent marks, Vanessa is an active volunteer in the community. She doesn’t volunteer because its required; instead she’s earned hundreds of community service hours because she believes a life of purpose is important. Our school environment is a challenging place to thrive in but she does it with gusto. No one deserves this honor more.