April's Students of the Month Bailey Hermanson and Brandon Forseth are pictured with Guidance Counselor, Andy Palzkill, at the Kiwanis luncheon.

The Mineral Point Kiwanis Club honored its April Students of the Month at its meeting Tuesday, April 5 at the Pointer Cafe.

The students, who are members of the senior class, are selected for this honor through a voting process by staff at the school, and their biographies are written by themselves.

Brandon Forseth

Brandon would like to say thanks to the Kiwanis Club for honoring him.

He is the son of Randy and Jan Forseth. He has two older sisters and one older brother who are all graduated.

He has participated in many activities throughout his high school career including National Honor Society, forensics, pep club, yearbook, cross country, track, football, and wrestling.

Outside of school he enjoys spending time with his friends and family. Also he likes spending time in the outdoors fishing and hunting. When it comes to work, he has worked at American Players Theatre and Lands’ End.

Brandon plans on attending MATC for two years and then plans on transferring to the University of Iowa for biology to pursue a degree in the medical field.

He has always been interested in landing a job in the medical field because his biology teacher Mr. Tom Steger really sparked his interest in anatomy and physiology and how the body works. He made learning fun and interactive which made learning easy. When we are done with our work, he is always more than willing to talk sports with the students and is happy to answer any questions we have, biology related or not.

To conclude, he would again like to thank the Kiwanis Club for honoring him as Student of the Month. It is truly an honor to receive this recognition.

“Brandon is a charismatic, hard-working student. It has been my pleasure getting to know and work with him and see his successes both in and out of the classroom,” said Molly Uppena, high school English teacher.

“Brandon always has had a great work ethic whether it has been in the classroom or in athletics. He is a great role model, is respectful, and was a delight to have in class. He’s always cheerful and has a friendly smile,” said Deb Molle, 3rd grade teacher.

There is a major distinction between being nice and being genuinely kind.  Kindness emerges from someone who’s confident, compassionate, and comfortable with himself. A kind person is loving and giving out of the goodness of his heart.  This is what I think of when asked to describe Brandon,” said Kristin Staver, high school English teacher.

Bailey Hermanson

Bailey is the daughter of Brian Hermanson and Dorene Tieman. She has a brother in 6th grade and a little sister.

Bailey has been a member of Skills USA and FFA. Through FFA she has participated in many leadership activities. This fall she was fortunate enough to attend the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Also within FFA, she has participated in a proficiency contest where she completed an essay on her Supervised Agriculture Experience: Dairy Cattle. She placed 30th Silver. She has also participated in highway cleanup.

Bailey has worked at Lands’ End and currently works at Pine Valley Farms where she milks and manages the dairy cow herd. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Being involved in FFA and working on a dairy farm has inspired her to further her education in the agriculture field. Bailey plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Platteville where she will study crop and soil science. After college she wishes to obtain a job as a lead agronomist for a local company.

While attending Mineral Point High School, Bailey has met many individuals who have influenced her greatly, one being Mr. Mike Robinson who pushed her to become a more active FFA member and also introduced her to the many branches that agriculture has to offer. Another person that has influenced Bailey is Mrs. Kris McCoy, who has always helped her when she needed it, whether it was giving advice on books or help writing a paper.

Bailey is honored to have been named Student of the Month.

“I have had the pleasure to work with Bailey over the last year in the library. A few of the things that make her awesome are her ‘what needs to be done’ attitude, a great work ethic, and her fun personality.  You can always count on her, and she is always happy to help.  I know these traits will take her far,” said Kris McCoy, middle/high school librarian.

“Bailey is thorough, detail-oriented, and has a fun sense of humor. She does a great job advocating for her learning needs and volunteering in class which is why she has seen success in the English classroom. Whether it’s about English or about life, I always enjoy talking with Bailey and learning more about her kind personality,” said Molly Uppena, high school English teacher.

Kiwanis donates a book to the high school library selected by each student.

“My pick for the book is the ‘Lord of the Rings’ series because it’s universally read by middle and high schoolers. They are lengthy books but are not difficult by any means, and if you are struggling with it, the movies are everywhere so you can use those as a guide,” said Brandon.

“Beverly Lewis’ ‘The Betrayal’ is the book that I chose as Student of the Month. ‘The Betrayal’ is a book that I really liked because it’s not the typical fiction book. ‘The Betrayal’ is about the Amish and how they live,” said Bailey.