March Katz, Kittens Award of Excellence recipients

This฀ month’s฀ student฀ recipient ฀ of฀ the฀ Katz฀ and฀ Kittens ฀Award฀ of฀ Excellence฀ is฀ a฀ senior฀ who฀ has฀ led฀ by฀ example ฀and฀achieved฀quite฀an฀ impressive฀list฀of฀accomplishments. ฀ She฀ has฀ participated฀ in฀the฀Student฀Council,฀FFA,฀ Beta฀Club,฀4-H,฀UIL฀academics, ฀and฀athletics.฀Her฀honors฀ include฀ being฀ a฀ part฀ of฀ the฀ 1st฀place฀State฀Social฀Studies฀ Team฀in฀which฀she฀garnered฀a฀ silver฀medal฀as฀an฀individual,฀ and฀ her฀ Science฀ team฀ also฀ placed฀third฀at฀state.

She garnered Grand฀ Champion฀honors฀in฀the฀Republican ฀Women฀of฀Yoakum’s฀ essay฀ contest฀ and฀ earned฀ her฀ FFA฀ Lone฀ Star฀ Degree฀ as฀ well.฀ Her฀ community฀ activities ฀ include฀ maintaining฀ the฀ Governor’s฀ Community฀ Achievement฀ Landscape฀ Monument,฀ volunteering฀ at฀ the฀ Lutheran฀ church฀ spaghetti ฀ supper,฀ working฀ at฀ and฀donating฀to฀the฀Catholic฀ Church฀picnic,฀refereeing฀Little ฀Dribblers,฀baking฀pies฀for฀ the฀ scholarship฀ auction,฀ and฀ working฀ at฀ the฀ hamburger฀ stand฀at฀Jamboree.฀Currently฀ ranked฀ number฀ one฀ in฀ her฀ class,฀ she฀ will฀ attend฀ Texas฀ A&M฀ in฀ the฀ fall฀ to฀ major฀ in฀ biomedical฀ sciences,฀ and฀ after ฀ receiving฀ her฀ bachelor’s฀ degree,฀she฀will฀continue฀her฀ education฀ with฀ the฀ ultimate฀ goal฀of฀becoming฀a฀large฀and฀ small฀animal฀veterinarian฀in฀ a฀rural฀area.฀

This฀ senior’s฀ outstanding฀ resume ฀ and฀ character฀ resulted฀ in฀ her฀ most฀ recent฀ honor-฀ being฀ selected฀as฀the฀Chamber฀of฀Commerce ฀Outstanding฀Senior฀at฀Sunday’s ฀banquet.฀For฀her฀exceptional฀ leadership฀and฀accomplishments,฀ please฀ help฀ me฀ congratulate฀ our฀ student฀ recipient฀ of฀ the฀ Katz฀ and฀Kittens฀Award฀of฀Excellence,฀ Catherine฀Wenske.

Our฀staff฀recipient฀of฀the฀Katz฀ and฀Kittens฀Award฀of฀Excellence฀ is฀a฀teacher฀who฀serves฀as฀the฀perfect ฀example฀of฀what฀it฀means฀to฀ be฀a฀servant฀leader฀in฀our฀school฀ and฀in฀our฀community.

She฀ has฀ taught฀ English฀ for฀ 18฀ years,฀ and฀ in฀ each฀ of฀ those฀ years฀ she฀ has฀ served฀ as฀ the฀ Student฀ Council฀ advisor.฀ It฀ is฀ through฀ StuCo฀that฀she฀has฀developed฀the฀ leadership฀skills฀of฀our฀students,฀ showing฀ them฀ how฀ to฀ plan,฀ organize, ฀ and฀ conduct฀ events฀ that฀ improve฀the฀lives฀of฀our฀students.฀

Under฀her฀guidance,฀the฀Council ฀ has฀ earned฀ the฀ Outstanding฀ Student฀ Council฀ Award฀ 17฀ years฀ running,฀ and฀ the฀ Moulton฀ Council ฀has฀served฀as฀a฀district฀officer฀ for฀14฀years.฀She฀has฀been฀named฀ the฀TASC฀ District฀Advisor฀ of฀ the฀Year฀ in฀ 2015,฀ 17,฀ 19,฀ and฀ most฀ recently,฀ in฀ 2022,฀ and฀ a฀ perfect฀example฀of฀how฀active฀ our฀ StuCO฀ is฀ can฀ be฀ seen฀ in฀ their฀ bid฀ for฀ state฀ president.฀ In฀2016,฀the฀students฀decided฀ that฀ little฀ 1A฀ Moulton฀would฀ head฀ to฀ the฀ state฀ convention฀ with฀ a฀ campaign฀ plan฀ to฀ run฀ for฀ the฀ President฀ school฀ of฀ State฀ StuCo.฀ I฀ had฀ the฀ privilege ฀of฀chaperoning฀and฀helping ฀ our฀ advisor฀ and฀ students฀ from฀MHS฀force฀a฀run-off฀vote฀ for฀the฀office.฀It฀came฀down฀to฀ a฀1A฀Council฀vs.฀a฀6A฀Council.฀ Moulton฀was฀the฀runner-up฀for฀ president฀ that฀ year,฀ but฀ our฀ Council฀ members฀ were฀ the฀ biggest฀winners฀at฀the฀convention ฀because฀of฀their฀tenacity,฀ teamwork,฀ and฀ leadership฀ skills.

Rounding฀ out฀ her฀ school฀ efforts,฀ she฀ has฀ been฀ a฀ 4-H฀ club฀manager฀for฀four฀years,฀ she฀ sponsors฀ the฀ yearbook,฀ and฀she฀has฀coached฀students฀ to฀ the฀ state฀ academic฀ meet฀ in฀ Ready฀ Writing฀ and฀ Prose฀ Interpretation.

Her฀ list฀ of฀ community฀ activities ฀ is฀ long฀ and฀ impressive, ฀with฀most฀of฀her฀efforts฀ centered฀around฀St.฀Joseph’s฀ Catholic Church and the฀ Chamber฀ of฀ Commerce.฀ She฀ is฀ currently฀ the฀Youth฀ Mass฀ Coordinator฀ and฀ helped฀ beg i n ฀ t h e ฀ monthly ฀ pancake฀ breakfast฀at฀church,฀and฀after฀ years฀as฀a฀member฀and฀director ฀of฀the฀Chamber,฀she฀now฀ serves฀ as฀ president฀ and฀ was฀ instrumental ฀in฀obtaining฀the฀GVEC฀ Power฀ Up฀ grant฀ which฀ added฀ a฀ 16-foot฀ lighted฀ tree฀ to฀ our฀ downtown ฀Yule฀Trail.฀You฀can฀see฀why฀I฀ nominated฀her฀for฀the฀Chamber’s฀ Distinguished฀Citizen฀of฀the฀Year,฀ an฀ well-deserved฀ award฀ she฀ was฀ presented฀Sunday฀night.

For฀her฀dedicated฀servant฀leadership ฀and฀her฀commitment฀to฀her฀ school฀and฀community,฀please฀help฀ me฀ congratulate฀ our฀ staff฀ recipient ฀of฀the฀Katz฀and฀Kittens฀Award,฀ and฀ our฀ current฀ Distinguished฀ Citizen,฀Anna฀Bartos.