April Students of the Month, pictured in the DUHS courtyard, are, standing, from left: freshman Samantha Craft, Patrick Hamilton fourth grader Mathew Galvan and middle school sixth grader Zech Huston. Seated: Justus Gage fifth grader Nick Turnbow, Sister Lakes third grader Ana Moreno and Kincheloe fourth grader Megan Hackworth.

Dowagiac Board of Education in Union High School cafeteria Monday night recognized April Students of the Month, including Mathew Galvan, Patrick Hamilton fourth-grader; Megan Hackworth, Kincheloe fourth-grader; Ana Moreno, Sister Lakes third-grader; Zech Huston, middle school sixth-grader; Nicholas Turnbow, Justus Gage fifth-grader; and Samantha Craft, Union High freshman.

Samantha Craft

Samantha, presented by Principal Paul Hartsig, is the daughter of Rebecca Craft and Bill Craft. She has a younger brother, William.

Her daily schedule includes honors English, geometry, earth science, civics, choir and French.

Her favorite thing about school is seeing friends, with some learning on the side.

Choir is her favorite class because she loves to sing. English is her favorite core subject. If she could change one thing at DUHS it would be to have more fine art classes. Getting up early is her least favorite thing about school.

Outside school, Samantha is involved in solo and ensemble, honor choir and the musical. After high school, she plans on attending Southwestern Michigan College to study science before transferring to Yale for astrophysics.

Mathew Galvan

Mathew, son of Francis Galvan, is a student of Elaine Bansen. Principal Heather Nash introduced him.

Mathew is known as helpful and a great example to his classmates by following directions the first time they are given and participating fully in class discussions. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and quietly does what he knows is right. He excels academically due to his willingness to put forth his best effort in all of his school subjects. He strives to produce quality work instead of trying to be the first one done.

Megan Hackworth

Megan, who aspires to be a snow-cone maker, is a student of David Vibbert. She is the daughter of George Hackworth and Angela Hackworth and has two brothers, Ron and Nick. Principal Dawn Conner introduced her.

Math is her favorite subject. She loves working with numbers — especially long division and multiplication. Megan tied the highest score in the class on the NWEA math test while leaping 15 points past her goal.

Reading comes a close second. Two favorite series are Encyclopedia Brown because of mysterious plots and Box Car Children because of different problems with which the family deals. Megan increased one whole grade level in nine weeks. She loves working with maps.

Ana Moreno

Ana, daughter of Nicolas and Natalie Moreno, has two younger sisters, Adamaris and Zayda. Principal Gretchen Hart presented her.

Ana is always willing to do whatever it takes to achieve classroom success. She works extremely hard on all of her classwork and puts in “110 percent” effort. She is the rare student who asks for homework. She wants to become a veterinarian because she wants to help animals.

Zech Huston

Zech, 12, is the son of Stacy and Mike Behnke and Brian Huston. He has one brother, Tyler, in fourth grade, and a sister, Bree, 4. His favorite team is the Tigers. He plays tight end on his football team. Zech enjoys fishing and hunting — he got his first deer this year — and wants to be a taxidermist or businessman.

Zech was introduced by his uncle, Principal Mike Frazier. Math is his favorite subject, Amy Lowe his favorite teacher. He thought he was selected “because I am a good listener, pay attention and try my best.”

Nicholas Turnbow

Nick, 10, is a student of Margie Brosnan, who introduced her along with Cari Soderbloom.

His family includes his dad, Deric Turnbow; his mom, Amy Allen, and her fiancé, Adam Elliott; brothers, Landon, Kaleb and Jessie; and sister, Natalie.

With great listening skills, Nick excels in school, consistently earning straight A’s in all subjects. Since September, his weekly progress reports reflect that all of his assignments are completed with a high degree of accuracy. Nick’s favorite subject is math. He shows 19 points growth on NWEA for 2011-2012.

After school, Nick participates in football, baseball, wrestling and basketball. When he grows up, he would like to be a professional athlete in the NFL or NBA.