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Panther Foursome Selected As Students Of The Month
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From left, El Portal Students of the Month for May included McKenna Pearce, Joslyn Mangnuson, Elijah Lattig and Jonathan Gonzalez. Marg Jackson/The Times

In the final selection of Students of the Month for the 2016-17 school year, four El Portal Middle School students were tapped for the honor.

Sixth grader McKenna Pearce, seventh grader Joslyn Mangnuson and eighth grade students Elijah Lattig and Jonathan Gonzalez were chosen as the May recipients, recognized in a number of areas. They were also saluted at a breakfast meeting of the sponsoring Escalon Kiwanis Club.

Teachers Bryan Ney and Nabby Casteel nominated sixth grader McKenna Pearce for the Student of the Month honor, citing her academic growth, positive leadership and outstanding citizenship.

“McKenna is always an active participant in class lessons and discussions,” the nomination noted. “She is an exemplary role model for her peers academically and socially. McKenna never gives less than 100 percent on all class activities. She has a very bright future ahead of her.”

For seventh grade student Joslyn Mangnuson, teacher Ken Baptista offered the nomination for her positive leadership and outstanding work ethic.

“Joslyn has worked very hard over the course of our unit on Japan. She has been a leader for her clan on several occasions and has completed many extra credit assignments to earn moves for her team,” explained Baptista. “Even though she was unsuccessful in becoming Shogun of Japan, Joslyn still earned an A+ on the project and displayed both positive leadership and an outstanding work ethic. It has been a pleasure having her in class this year.”

Eighth grader Elijah Lattig was nominated for his positive leadership, outstanding citizenship and academic excellence by teacher Nate Bartelink.

“It has been a pleasure to have Eli in class. Aside from being extremely bright and achieving academically at a very high level in advanced math, he is never satisfied,” Bartelink explained. “Eli has a thirst for knowledge and always gives maximum effort. He is a leader in and out of the classroom and a positive model for his peers. Eli has nothing but good things in store for his future.”

Teacher Jason Jericoff provided the nomination for eighth grade student Jonathan Gonzalez.

“Jonathan is a great student who has consistently, throughout the year, come to class prepared, with a smile, and ready to work,” Jericoff said. “He has an excellent work ethic and has always had the thirst to want to learn more. It is a privilege to have Jonathan in my class.”