Student of the Month is given to individuals who exhibit all the qualities of exemplary students. For the month of September, senior Jenica Francis and Reiley Austin have been chosen as students of the month.

  Francis has an outstanding GPA of 4.133. She has taken AP classes including AP Language and Composition, AP Chemistry, as well as accelerated and dual-enrolled classes.    

  Francis has many awards and achievements, such as being inducted into National Honor Society and scoring a three on multiple AP exams.

  Francis has been a member of the tennis team all four years as well as participated in the fall play, speech team, madrigals and chambers, contest play, and the summer musical. She was a sectional winner in 10th and 11th grade, state qualifier for ninth-11th grade for speech, with winning sixth place at state her junior year, all sectional for group interpretation ninth-11th grade, all state for group interpretation her junior year, and last but not least all state for contest play during junior year. Francis is also captain of the tennis team during her senior year.

  Not only is Francis a phenomenal student, but she does just as well outside of school when it comes to helping around her community. She volunteers at Woodlawn Arts Academy and Centennial Auditorium. 

  Francis has many hobbies like reading various book series and spending time on the river with family and friends. For her future plans, she wants to attend Illinois State University in the fall. She wants to major in elementary education. Francis wants to possibly minor in Spanish and continue theatre at ISU.

  Reiley Austin was also named one of the October students of the month. Austin has a GPA of 4.158. He has participated in numerous AP classes such as AP Psychology, AP Human Geography and many more. He has also taken many accelerated classes like Accelerated Biology and Accelerated Algebra 2. Throughout the last four years, Austin was named to the honor roll for his freshman, sophomore, and junior year. He’s also been a Rotary Scholar during that time and been a part of  NHS during his junior and senior year.

  Austin has been involved in many clubs and activities such as Young Doctor’s League. All four years of high school, he has been a part of the varsity swim team. Austin has won many awards, including being named SHS All-Conference Swimmer (2018-2020) 10 times, a two-time IHSA State Swim Qualifier (2018-2020), a three-time SHS Team Conference Champions (2018-2020), and Sectional Swim Champions (2019). Reiley was the Swim Team Captain during the 2019-2020 season.

  When he’s outside of school he likes to help his elderly neighbor with yard work. He’s also a Junior Stingray Swim Instructor. His hobbies include swimming, road biking, lifting, and video games. Austin is planning to attend a four-year school and wants to study pre-dentistry.

  These two students are examples of what every student strives to be. Congratulations on becoming the September Students of the Month.