Thomas Jefferson honors Cougars of the Month

A group of Thomas Jefferson Middle School students were recently honored with the Cougar of the Month award.

The Cougar of the Month Award is designed to spotlight students who best "Respect the PAW" (Perseverance, Attitude, Wise Choices). Through distance learning, the following students have stood out in March to their teachers for working hard, joining class sessions on time and being active participants.

6th Grade

Jazmine Ramirez has been selected as Cougar of the Month for 6th grade. "She maintained perfect attendance all year and has stayed dedicated to her studies and pushed through the difficulties of distance learning and maintaining perfect attendance all year," her teacher said. "She has stayed dedicated to her studies and pushed through the difficulties of distance learning." She hopes to become a teacher someday and receiving this recognition gives her confidence that her hard work can help her achieve her dreams.

Elias Rios Medina has been selected as Cougar of the Month for 6th grade. Elias sits on the Student Council as Sergeant at Arms, the only 6th grade representative for the middle school. He also maintains perfect attendance and has a 4.0 GPA. "Elias has a great attitude and is very proud of this achievement as he's done his best to overcome online challenges by doing what he can and staying active," his teacher said.

7th Grade

Brizeth Torralba has been selected as Cougar of the Month for 7th grade. She states distance learning has been a challenge but overcomes distractions by finding quiet places to study and disconnecting unnecessary internet devices while doing school work. A plus has been learning "how to type better thanks to virtual teaching." Brizeth works hard and puts in extra work to review class lectures and excels in accelerated reading as well.

Raymond Castaneda has been selected as Cougar of the Month for 7th grade. Raymond has demonstrated perseverance from the start of distance learning. His teacher said that he has faced many Chromebook technical issues but has not let that stop him. He takes the initiative to call the school and make the exchanges, no matter how many times it's been. He works hard and does all he can to succeed.

8th Grade

Mariana Perez Gonzalez has been selected as Cougar of the Month for 8th grade. She has honors classes for every core subject and has maintained a 4.67 GPA all year. Mariana states her motivation to do well comes from her group of friends as they all push each other to succeed even through distance learning. A bonus to virtual learning has been finding the best study strategies, especially for getting through her toughest subject, science.

Alexis Mendoza has been selected as Cougar of the Month for 8th grade. "Just like his co-recipient, Alexis is carrying a full load of honors classes and has a 4.67 GPA," his teacher said. "His biggest challenge is with online learning and not having the teacher available to answer questions during lessons and keeping track of assignments. To overcome this, he has learned to manage an agenda as best as possible and visits his teachers during office hours for extra help."