By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Six girls were honored Monday night by the Dowagiac Board of Education at Sister Lakes Elementary School as September Citizens of the Month.
Kylee Williams of Dowagiac Middle School, Union High School senior Tasia Diaz, Kincheloe third grader Elizabeth Turczi, Justus Gage fourth grader Catherine Wirick, Patrick Hamilton second grader Juliana Stanger and Sister Lakes fourth grader Valerie Valenzuela received plaques and Chieftain Hero T-shirts from the school board as the monthly recognition program begins its 19th year.
Kylee Williams
Principal Mike Frazier presented Kylee, 13, the daughter of Ronda Palmateer and Jerry Williams. She has three brothers, Tim DeRyder, a senior at Union High; Brandon Palmateer, a Cassopolis freshman; and Justin Palmateer, a fifth grader.
Kylee was nominated by her English teacher, Cheri Gowin.
Math is her favorite class.
Kylee plays basketball for DMS and plays softball. She plays clarinet in the band and is a computer assistant in the media center, co-designing and producing the daily message board.
She likes being with her friends and has three dogs and five draft horses. Kylee doesn't ride the draft horses because the last time she did, she fell off.
She wants to go to college to become an animal caretaker.
Her advice as Citizen of the Month is to be nice to everyone.
Mrs. Gowin said, "She is one of the most polite, helpful and dedicated students I know. Her organizational skills are textbook. She is always committed to do her best, whatever the challenge."
Tasia Diaz
Principal Paul Hartsig introduced Tasia, the daughter of Paul and Darla Diaz. She has two sisters, Brittney and Taylor.
Her journalism teacher, Teri Frantz, nominated Tasia.
"Last spring, when Tasia agreed to be co-editor of the 2009 (Wahoo) yearbook," Frantz said, "she didn't realize she would be flying solo. She and a few other underclassmen spent most of June finishing the 2008 yearbook, so she had lots of practice. When this school year started, she found out she would be the lone editor, took responsibility and got to work.
"She has always approached every project with willingness and a smile," Frantz commented. "Most people know Tasia is an excellent athlete, but she is also an excellent artist. I realized this when she was in my freshman English class. She wrote and illustrated a cute children's book as a research project. It's this cooperative attitude that makes Tasia a great role model for her peers, both in the classroom and on the playing field. And I'm happy to have her in my classroom."
Elizabeth Turczi
Elizabeth, introduced by Principal Dawn Conner, is a third grader in Robin Winters' classroom and the daughter of Michael and Vickie Turczi. Her mother works at Kincheloe.
Their family enjoys playing computer games together, especially Polar Golf and Polar Bowl.
On Fridays, Elizabeth likes going out for dinner with her mom, dad and special friends, Bobbie and Maxine.
After school, when Elizabeth completes her homework, she practices her computer skills playing Donkey Kong II and plays with their three dogs, Chubby, Joey and Bugsy.
Elizabeth is known as an excellent student. Not only is she smart, but she is very kind and helpful to her teacher and classmates.
She has a wonderful sense of humor and is just an all-around great kid.
Catherine Wirick
Catherine is new to Justus Gage this year, like Principal Marcy Hendress. She lives with her mom, Mary Alice, and brother, Teddy, 16.
Catherine, a member of Sue Meloche's classroom, was nominated because "she is such a fine example of the way a fourth grade girl should conduct herself. She completes her assignments on time, finds ways to stay quietly busy when her work is done and supports her classmates in a friendly manner."
Catherine's favorite subject in school is reading. She likes learning about interesting things.
She also loves animals and hopes to be a veterinarian one day.
Her dog, Freckles, gave her some experience in this area when he lived with her.
When Catherine is not in school, she is involved in a wide range of activities that include scrapbooking, dance, softball, Girl Scouts and cheerleading.
"All her classmates love her," Meloche said, because Catherine treats others like she wants to be treated. "She's every teacher's dream student."
Juliana Stanger
Juliana, daughter of Mike and Melissa Stanger, was presented by Principal Heather Nash. She is a student in Kelly Knapp's classroom.
She was chosen because she follows all of the classroom rules. She is respectful, responsible and always has a good attitude.
When she grows up, she wants to be a teacher.
She would like to teach 5-year-old children. Juliana decided she was selected Citizen of the Month because 5-year-olds can look up to her because she's a good friend and likes to help.
Music is Juliana's favorite subject. She also enjoys playing with her friends. She has two sisters, Olivia and Emma.
Valerie Valenzuela
Valerie Valenzuela is the first Citizen of the Month presented by new Principal Matt Severin. She is the daughter of Dan and Robin Valenzuela, a student in Doni Smith's classroom and has three older sisters, Tracey, Stacy and Lindy.
Mrs. Smith said Valerie is very tolerant when she gets "senile" and calls her Lindy, who was one of her students about seven years ago.
Science is Valerie's favorite subject. She really enjoys learning about animals because one day she would like to be a veterinarian.
On the playground, Valerie likes the swings. She will also find someone to play with who is all alone.
When Valerie's chores (dusting, washing windows and doing dishes) are done, she likes to have fun.
At the top of her list is playing with her family's pot belly pig, which is older than she is.
Valerie also likes to go outside and see how far she can hit the ball with her bat.
Valerie also enjoys reading. The best book she ever read was "Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It was so funny." Now she can't wait to read the third book.