Student of the Month
by Camerin Allison
For the month of January, Laurel Junior Senior High School appointed Senior McKenna Danielson to be showcased as its student of the month.
McKenna has always been a remarkable student at Laurel and has demonstrated her intelligence in various ways throughout her educational career. She has been a member of the band since fifth grade, participated in choir in middle school, and won an award at the Lawrence County Forensics competition her Sophomore year. Also, she is an active member of Youth Alive, where on select Wednesday mornings she and other students celebrate their faith by sharing stories, taking part in activities, and praying together.
If you have attended one of Laurel’s varsity football games, you have heard McKenna’s wonderful trumpet playing out on the field, as she is a member of the marching band, and she was on the Laurel 2021 homecoming court alongside nine of her fellow seniors. Not only is McKenna a talented musician, but she has exhibited incredible work ethic and exceptional grades her entire school career, which landed her an honorable spot in Laurel’s National Honors Society.
After all of these outstanding accomplishments, it is no doubt that Mckenna will lead a life of success. She plans to attend Edinboro University next fall to pursue a career in speech pathology, which is a subject she has been passionate about from a very young age, since she struggled with a speech impediment as a child, and wants to be able to impact someone’s life with similar experiences as herself.
The Laurel News Team now has a Spotify- which is linked on our instagram @wltvnews.ig- that features playlists created by anyone who has been a student of the month in the 2021-2022 school year. On McKenna’s playlist, she incorporates a song from the 2009 Disney Channel Original Film Hannah Montana: The Movie. This song, Butterfly Fly Away, includes the line: “Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you’ll be, can’t go far but you can always dream. Wish you may and wish you might, don’t you worry hold in tight. I promise you there will come a day, butterfly fly away.” As someone who has known McKenna for almost ten years, I personally feel as though not only this song, but specifically this stanza encapsulates McKenna’s personality perfectly. If you are someone who has not had the pleasure of knowing her, she is always dreaming of her future and looking ahead, and is the most optimistic person you will ever meet. It is safe to say that McKenna has definitely developed from the aforementioned caterpillar into a butterfly.
Congratulations on receiving the honor of Student of the Month, and congratulations on your extensive achievements, McKenna! Thank you for your hard work and dedication to your highschool career, and thank you for always being a friend to anyone who needs one. Myself, and all of Laurel wishes you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
