By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Rhiannon Cummin, Learning Center student, is pursuing a dream to be a registered nurse by the time she is 20.
She was nominated as the March’s student Best of the Best by teacher Sondra Hickert.
“I often stand before the board of education at Learning Center graduations to emphasize the things that students overcome to graduate,” Hickert said. “Whether it is illness, loss of a family member or some other life issue, we like to accentuate the challenges that the graduates had to overcome. But tonight I introduce you to Rhiannon Cummin who is a student who couldn’t overcome.
“She couldn’t overcome her passionate desire to become a nurse at the earliest age possible. Rhiannon came to us less than a year ago, telling me she wanted to be a nurse. She wanted the option of working at her own pace because she is determined to be a working RN by the age of 20.”
She drives into Hays each day to attend the Learning Center. She pays for her own gas, earned from a part-time job she works in between her studies.
Hickert said Cummin has applied herself like no other student, completing her core courses for both her junior and senior years since August.
“She is a friend to every student who walks in the lab,” Hickert said.
By May Cummin will have completed 17 hours of concurrent college credit.
“She has traded working the drive-thru for answering call lights at her hometown nursing facility as a certified nurse aide,” Hickert said.
Cummin is poised to enter nursing school three months after graduating with her class in May 2020.
“Society, not just the health care industry, is fortunate to have a citizen like Rhiannon Cummin who is forging her future industriously and compassionately,” she said.
Eva Junk, Lincoln and Roosevelt counselor, was nominated by peers at Roosevelt for the staff Best of the Best award. Roosevelt Principal Paula Rice spoke on her behalf at Monday’s school board meeting.
“Eva is just one of those who goes above and beyond,” Rice said.
“Too many times in education, staff members are asked to take on additional duties to help fill in the gaps to continue to provide the best for students,” Rice said. “Our fantastic staff steps up and does this because of our love for our students.
“One shining example of this is our school counselor Eva Junk, who every year is asked to take on more and more roles and responsibilities. These roles and responsibilities are accepted by Eva with a nod of the head and a smile on her face and a ‘yes’ all the while continuing to excel in every aspect of her core performance. This is what sets her head and shoulders above so many others.”
Junk is responsible for more than 650 students and families. Rice said having responsibilities between two buildings pulls her in many directions each day. She visits classrooms, teaches lessons, sponsors two student councils, checks in weekly and daily with students who need counseling, and eats lunch with students.
Junk also has taken an active role in building leadership at both schools.
“Despite being surrounded by daily stressors, enough to make most people want to give up,” Rice said, “Eva continues to be a compassionate, listening ear for all who are in need to help shape our building into the happy, comforting and joyful place that it is. Eva deserves more than a modest pat on the back. For indeed, she is the Best of the Best.”