I’m pleased to announce the September Student of the Month is Skyline High School junior Brady Wise. Lacking credits, failing 3 classes, and finding little support at home, Brady could have buckled under all that pressure and given up as many students unfortunately have. Instead, he persevered and decided to put in the hard work required to turn his situation around. This story also stood out to me because it demonstrates just how important our teachers are, and I commend Brady’s teacher Rebecca for recognizing his stress, reaching out and making herself available to help in any way needed.
I have sent Brady a gift basket as a token of recognition for the achievements he’s made so far, and as an encouragement to be strong and keep going. I believe Brady will go far in life with the determination he has. I hope others that find Brady’s situation relatable will be also be encouraged to not give up.
Thanks to Rebecca Atchison for writing in about Brady. She says she just recently started her high school teaching career, and I have to say I’m very impressed and encouraged that she’s kicked off that career seeding deeply into the lives of her students, and hope she gets to do so for many years to come. You can read her full submission about Brady at the bottom of this post.
I’m ready to start taking entries for October, so at the bottom of this post you will also find a form to submit an entry for your student. As with last time, all grade levels are eligible for nominations, including college. The only restrictions are that you must be a teacher and the student you are nominating must be from a class that you teach. Just fill out the form below fully and completely before end of day Friday, October 25th. After reviewing your submissions and choosing a winner, I will make the announcement here within a couple of weeks.
Looking forward to reading about even more of your students!
God bless,
Troy
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I recently just started my high school teaching career at Skyline. I have a student, whom in his “History of Me” essay told me about his struggles his first two years of high school. He is a junior with only three credits, and never really had much support at home. A couple of weeks ago he seemed very stressed out in class. I asked him to stay after so we could talk. He did. Brady really started off the school year right in my class. He likes to be liked, and always worked hard. He failed his first test, and that is when I noticed his stress. When we talked he explained that he is now failing three classes, and he is freaking out because he is also working on credit recovery, to make up the credits he is lacking. He was feeling overwhelmed and did not know what to do. I offered to stay after school with him every day until 5, to help him get his grades up, he agreed. I went and spoke with two of our Assistant Principals, and his other teachers, I moved his schedule around, anything I could do to help. Every morning Brady shows up in my room and gets to work on make up work. Every afternoon, he comes to my room and works until 5pm. Sometimes I have to help him, sometimes he does it on his own. His grades are already starting to go up. He is working so hard, and really wants to graduate on time. Since I have made myself available, he has continued to succeed. Before he leaves we discuss the homework he might have from the day, and if he does not have any I assign him specific make up work, in the morning he reports to me and shows me his work. He does not have to do any of this. He could just be another lost student. But he wants something more for himself, and has shown me is capable. He needs to be recognized for his struggles and small achievements. I believe this would mean the world to him and help keep him going. I am so proud of him!
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Nominate your student now for October’s Student of the Month…
