Dashawn Cason of Alton High School, and Marcus Bernhard of Mississippi Valley Christian School were honored as Students of the Month for January by the Alton/Godfrey Rotary Club at the Club’s regular meeting at the Banquet Center on January .

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 are nominated on the basis of outstanding  scholarship, participation in school activities, and/or community service activities.

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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 14th year of the program and 243 students from the three area high schools have been recipients of this honor.  

Dashawn Cason of Alton was selected as the January Student of the Month because of his drive and enthusiasm and participation in a number of activities at Alton High. His guardians are Ken and Mary Buttry, Cason has been a member of the Student Council for the past three years and has been an active participant in the Air Force Junior ROTC program. He has been a member of the Drill Team, the color guard unit and serves as the Mission Support Squad’s Deputy Commander. He is also a member of the Kitty Hawk Air Honor Society.

Cason has been an active member of the Interact Club serving as Treasurer of the group which raised over $6000 for the St. Baldric’s Day fund drive. He has been a member of the Redbird Nest and the Scholar Bowl team. Last year he was the recipient of the 110 per cent Achievement Award and is a member of the Power of Peers a positive role model leadership group. He also serves as a mentor in the Good Friend Mentoring program at Alton High.

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He is very active and has committed hundreds of after school hours to the many activities at the River of Life Church. He would like to attend Bradley University and major in Business Administration after graduating fro Alton High. His ultimate goal is to become a lawyer and a pastor of his own church.

Marcus Bernhard is the son of Paul and Paula Bernhard of Alton. He has consistently earned a place on the school’s honor roll.  A winner of the USAA National Honor Roll Award and been selected to Who’s Who Among American High School Students and Who’s Who Among History Students. He has been a recipient of 2nd and 3rd place awards in the Voice of Democracy program.

Marcus serves as Senior Class Chaplain and has been a participant in choir and drama activities. He has been particularly active on the soccer and basketball teams where he has excelled and received numerous awards. For the past two years he has been named to the Illinois Association of Christian Schools All State and All Tournament teams in Soccer and Basketball

He has been very active in his church, the Faith Baptist Church in Godfrey. Undecided at this time regarding which college he plans to attend, Bernhard would like to go into the  Physical Therapy field.

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

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