DILLIAN LAAKER and ANNA WONG of Alton High School were honored by the Alton/Godfrey Rotary Club as Students of the Month for APRIL at the Banquet Center on April 9th.

The Alton/Godfrey Rotary Club initiated the Student of the Month program to  recognize the accomplishments of area youth. Individuals selected must be a senior and  nominated on the basis of outstanding  scholarship, participation in school and/or community service activities.

Students selected for this honor are recognized and presented with an award at a  Rotary Club meeting and are eligible to compete for a $5000 scholarship which will be presented to one of the eighteen students honored as a “Student of the Month” during the school year. This is the 15th year of the program and 269 students from the three area high schools have been recipients of this honor.  

Dillan Laaker is the son of Brad and Angie Laaker of Godfrey.  He is a member of the National Honor Society, an Illinois State Scholar and a Silver Medallion Winner. His academic accomplishments earned him selection as a Junior Marshall at last year’s graduation and selection as the Scholar Athlete for the Cross Country and Track teams at Alton High. He was also selected to the Academic All-Conference team in Cross Country this year.

Active in school activities, Laaker has been a member of the Student Council, Biology Club, and the Illinois Math League. He has been a participant in the Lewis & Clark Trebuchet competition earning grand champion status during his junior year. He has been active in WYSE, serves as president of Mu Alpha Theta, and a member of the Alton High/JC Penney Robotics team.

Laaker has been a member of the Redbird Cross Country and Track teams for four years being selected as the Cross Country team’s MVP and a position on the All Conference team this year. He was also selected as the 2011 Alton Road Runners Runner of the Year.

He has been an active member of the Faith Fellowship Church and a volunteer at the Community Hope Center during the summers. He has participated in a number of activities sponsored by the National Honor Society and still finds time to tutor students after school four days a week. He hopes to enroll at Vanderbilt University and ultimately become a physician.

Anna Wong is the daughter of Kai Ching and Lin Shi Wong of Alton. Wong has been a participant in the Minority Excellence program for four years and her academic performance earned her a selection to the National Honor Society and a position of  Junior Marshall at last year’s graduation ceremonies. She is an Illinois State Scholar, been an active member of the Student Council for four years and a member of Mu Alpha Theta as well as the Illinois Math League.

She was selected to membership in the National Society of High School Scholars and as a participant in the National Student Leadership Conference on Entrepreneurship & Business.

After graduating she hopes to enroll at New York University or the University of Illinois majoring in Accounting or International Business. She hopes that her future will involve international exchange and travel.

Mike Tillman, President of the Rotary Club, presented each of the students with a  plaque recognizing their selection to this honor.

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