Lake County Gazette

The Big Hollow school board started their January meeting off with some recognitions.

“And I can also speak to the fact that these two do an outstanding job for us and our facilities team,” Big Hollow Middle School Principal Josh Cornwell said during the meeting. “They're just amazing. Always have great attitudes. They're what you would call model employees for us.”

The board uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the district’s YouTube channel.

At their January 9th meeting, the Big Hollow school recognized multiple members of the district. They started with their student of the month, and this month it was eighth grader Aubrey Hopkins. Aubrey is involved with multiple extracurriculars in the district, including cross-country, the musical, student council, and the dance team. Her teachers know her as a cheerful and driven student who is always including and encouraging her teammates and classmates. Middle school principal Josh Cornwell recalled telling Aubrey that she had been selected for student of the month, saying she wasn’t concerned about being called to the principal’s office because she’s a good student. She was super grateful for the honor.

The board also discussed a field trip to Puerto Rico for students from Big Hollow Middle School’s Spanish class.

Next up was the employee of the month, and this month they decided to split the honor between two coworkers: Martha Gonzalez and Jose Ramirez, two custodians on the facilities team. Josh Cornwell praised them, saying they did spectacular work for the district and were both model employees for the school. They were nominated this month because they were cleaning out the bleachers when they found an envelope with checks and money inside that a visitor had lost several months ago. They immediately returned the envelope to the front office and were able to return it to the owner, who was incredibly grateful for their help.

The board will meet again at 6 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Big Hollow Middle School’s Cafeteria on 26051 West Nippersink Road.

The district also recognized some softball athletes from the schools. These girls were recognized because they maintained straight A’s in all their classes while playing in their sport, a high honor. The players were Kailey, Nyla, Katie, and Kailey. They all received certificates honoring their hard work.