Senior Kathryn Ackerman was chosen as the January Rotary Student of the Month on Monday Jan. 20. 

Ackerman chose her third grade teacher Tracy Lakatos to accompany her to the Rotary luncheon at the Grand Haven community center. 

“I chose her because she was extremely organized,” Ackerman said. “She is very kind with all of her students. But I felt like I kind of had a similar personality to her and connected to her. We were both organized and pay attention to detail so I just loved being a part of her third grade classroom. To me, she was the perfect person to pick for the luncheon.” 

Ackerman was humbled to receive this award and just thinks overall this is a great way to show appreciation to her fellow classmates. 

“It’s a great honor to be picked for that and just to be recognized for all the hard work you put in through high school,” Ackerman said. “Just to go up there and say thank you to people who allowed you to be recognized for this like my teachers and my parents, it was a lot of fun to be able to talk to everyone about that so it was a really special moment.”

Senior Samuel Woiteshek was honored as the January Rotary Student of the Month on Monday, Jan. 20. He was chosen for his leadership abilities and academic record. Woiteshek was pleasantly surprised to find a letter announcing this honor in his mailbox a week prior. 

“I was surprised,” Woiteshek said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but after that initial shock, I was very proud and honored to be recognized by the Rotary.” 

Students are invited to bring a person of significance to accompany them to a luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club. Typically these individuals are teachers who have impacted the honoree. Woiteshek chose U.S. History teacher Mark Robertson to accompany him. 

“Mr. Robertson was the first teacher to put what I was learning into context of the world,” Woiteshek said. “He taught history as it really was with no glorifications. It was almost as if he could see through all the fakeness of it.”

At the luncheon, Woiteshek had the opportunity to brush shoulders with prominent community leaders.

“Rep. Bill Huizenga was there and I had a chance to say ‘hi’ to him,” Woiteshek said. “I enjoyed it very much and I was fortunate to share my accomplishments with all the attendees.”