ALTON - Tristan Johnson, Marquette Catholic High School and Kieran Favazza, Alton High School were honored as Students of the Month of November 2020 by the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club. Because of the COVID-19 cases in the area, the club has chosen to suspend meetings for a short time. However, we do not wish to suspend honoring our deserving students from our high schools.

Tristan Johnson, the daughter of Craig and Kelly Johnson, is a senior at Marquette Catholic High School. During her time at MCHS, she has been active in the Veteran’s Heritage Project as President; Varsity Field Hockey as Captain; Student Council as Vice President; the National Honor Society as the Service Officer; Varsity Scholar Bowl as a Captain; Breast Cancer Awareness Club; Theatre; Chorus; and WYSE.

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Her honors include the Marquette Principal’s Scholarship, High Honor Roll, 1st Place in English at WYSE Regionals, the St. Louis Post Dispatch Average “A” Student, Theatre Service Award, and the DAR Good Citizen Award. Tristan has thus far amassed over 400 service hours during her high school career. She is active in supporting the Hardin American Legion and Auxiliary, volunteering at her local American Red Cross blood drives, and worked numerous hours sandbagging and working at the Emergency Food Bank during the Flood of 2019. She is a six time shavee for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for childhood cancer research, being named Top Fundraiser twice, and raising more than $16,000.

Tristan is currently enrolled in an independent study AP US History course and is enrolled at Lewis and Clark Community College in another independent study course. In 2019, she received a scholarship to attend the National History Academy in Virginia, where her ambition to work in government first began to develop. She currently volunteers as a Social Media Coordinator for NHA. In her free time, Tristan is in her 10th year with the Calhoun Entertainment Company, having recently served as Stage Manager. She is also in her third year of employment at the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant where she works as a cook. Upon graduation she hopes to attend the University of South Carolina or the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Women and Gender Studies and Communications, which will prepare her for a career in politics.

Kieran Favazza is the son of Patricia Flanigan and Guy Favzza of Alton. He is currently a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist. His GPA at Alton High School is a 4.744 on a 4.0 scale, and he either is taking or has already taken the highest level of classes that are offered in core subject areas. Spanish is a great example of this. Kieran was so advanced in the language that as a sophomore, he was placed in an independent study class for Spanish 5. That year, we had several seniors who earned the Seal of Biliteracy. He did this as a 15 year old sophomore. He also earned an A in the Calculus 2 BC class at age 16.

These traits have also carried over to his standardized tests. He had a 35 on the ACT. On the SAT subject test, he had an 800 (perfect score) on the math level 2 section and a 760 on the chemistry section. His SAT score from last month was a 1560. Kieran also scored a 5 on the AP test for Calculus BC and a 4 on the Chemistry AP test. One interesting thing about all of these academic accomplishments is that he is still only 16 years old.

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In addition to his work in the classroom, Kieran has also been very busy with extracurricular activities. He has been involved in our Symphonic Orchestra and is currently the 1st chair cellist. He is the founder and president of the AHS Philosophy Club. Last year, he was the captain of the Scholar Bowl team, which was ranked 66th in the nation and he is also a member of the Math team, where he had the 7th highest score in the state his sophomore year. He is also a member of our Chess team.

Kieran has also been involved in several of our athletic teams. He has played Soccer, Hockey and Volleyball for the Redbirds and he is the captain of the Volleyball team. This likely makes him the first person in Alton High School history to be 1st chair in the Orchestra and also play Hockey.

He was selected as a member for the Young Adults Committee for the Riverbend Growth Association. This group works with student leaders from five local high schools to support non-profit organizations in the area. They also do fundraising to donate to these groups.

Despite being connected to so many different groups through the school and community, Kieran has also earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and worked as an official for soccer games for the Alton Park Department.

Kieran plans to attend Columbia University and major in Philosophy, with a goal of becoming a philosophy professor/writer.

Tristan and Kieran will receive plaques in recognition of their selection as Students of the Month of November 2020.

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