Dowagiac Board of Education honored seven January and February Students of the Month Monday night at City Hall, including Nick Hackworth of the middle school, Laura Schaller and Aaron Lucio of Sister Lakes, Sydney Foote of Union High, Alivia Ausra of Justus Gage, Hunter Ottinger of Patrick Hamilton and Jenna White of Kincheloe.

Nick Hackworth
Nick is the son of George and Angela Hackworth. He has a brother, Ronald, 14, and a sister, Megan, 9. Leslie Sestric nominated Nick. She and Chris Haack are his favorite teachers. English is his favorite class.
Nick would like to go to college, perhaps in New Mexico, join the Army and become at least a captain.
A voracious reader, Nick thinks teachers appreciate how much he reads. His advice to other students is to read as much as possible and do all your work.

Laura Schaller
Laura is a kindergarten student in Betsy Cornish’s class. She is the daughter of David and Sarah Schaller. She has an older sister, Martha, who attends Sister Lakes, and a younger brother, Simeon, still at home.
A hard-working student who loves a challenge, Laura is going to first grade for her reading abilities. Little House is her favorite series.
Laura wants to be a librarian or teacher when she grows up.
She’s in the 100 Club because she can count and write numbers past 100. She is also known as a good friend to her peers, reading to them and helping tie shoelaces.

Aaron Lucio
First-grader Aaron Lucio, son of Lynda Saldana, has an older brother, Rolando, and an older sister, Vivianna.
A hard worker, Aaron volunteers in class all the time. He’s constantly trying to improve his reading. Math is a real strength for him. He loves to listen to stories and writes a lot about his family. He gives his best, listens and follows directions. He is respectful and well-mannered, shares, takes turns and is first to offer help when it’s time to clean up or do other jobs. He can always be counted on to tell the truth and is known as a good friend to others.

Sydney Foote
Sydney, a junior, is the daughter of Chris and Megan Foote. She has one sister, Kelsey; three dogs; and a hamster that likes to bite. Band and French are Sydney’s favorite subjects, but she doesn’t play French horn, she plays alto saxophone.
Her daily schedule includes pre-calculus, honors world history, honors English, honors biology, jazz band and concert band. She’s always willing to help classmates — especially in pre-calculus.
One of Sydney’s favorite things about school is learning new things. If she could change one thing at DUHS, it would be to offer more challenging elective courses.
Her least favorite thing about school is that it consumes most of her free time.
Sydney is a member of the tennis team and volunteers at Dowagiac Conservation Club, where she participates on the trap-shooting team. The 4-H member shows her dog, Josie, at Cass County Fair. She belongs to National Honor Society and Humanities Club.
After high school, Sydney plans to study archaeology and paleontology at the University of Michigan.

Alivia Ausra
Alivia, a kindergarten student in Jamie Pilch’s classroom, also attends Nancy Northrop’s first grade classroom every morning for language arts block.
Alivia is very helpful and responsible and always strives to do her best.
She is the daughter of Doug and Andrea Ausra and has an older sister, Madison, in Allison Yeo’s third grade classroom. Alivia has two dogs, Peggy and Mickey.
At home, she likes to go camping and play school with her sister.
At school, Alivia’s favorite thing to do is arts and crafts. She enjoys helping classmates and assisting her teacher. When she grows up she would like to be a doctor because her mom told her it sounds like fun.

Hunter Ottinger
Hunter, son of Amanda Walker and Thomas Ottinger, has an older sister, Haley.
Hunter listens closely to directions so he will know exactly what he’s supposed to do. Sometimes he rushes to get things done first, but when he’s asked to go back and do a better job, he’s always willing to try.
Hunter tries to earn Super Listener status each day, which shows in progress  made. He’s gone from a little boy who did not like to volunteer to answer questions to one of the first to raise his hand. He loves to find new books he can read to people and takes his time to read it carefully so anyone listening can understand him. Each day, Hunter tries to make responsible choices and has many friends in class. He’s always quick to help anyone who needs it.

Jenna White
Jenna, a student in Christine Green’s kindergarten, is the daughter of Kim Hagemann. She has a new baby sister, Kennedy, and a teenage brother, Jordon. She can’t have pets at her house, so she has fish at grandma’s. Her favorite thing do is swim in Nana’s pool.
Jenna likes macaroni and cheese and corn on the cob. When she grows up she wants to be a doctor because they can give people shots. She’s a model student who sounds out words very well, which makes her a good reader and writer.
Jenna helps classmates with unfamiliar words. Her written stories are full of detail. Jenna has lots of ideas and a wonderful attitude when asked to put her thoughts on paper. She’s good in math, too, and knows the values of coins. She is confident enough to take risks.