By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
The Saturday after homecoming, this Wyoming High School student showed up to help a teacher clean her room. Another works to find a way to make every person smile. And a third is such an inspiration that his peers and the high school staff all agreed he needed to be named an Alpha Wolf
On Thursday, Dec. 7, the Wyoming High School hosted its fall Alpha Wolf 11 Champion of Character program. This is when the school recognizes six students in the fall and another six in the spring, for treating others by “being kind, compassionate, and gracious.” Those words are part of the school’s motto. The award has nothing to do with what a student does in extracurriculars after school but instead focuses on what they do during school hours, as people, to make the school a better place, according to Principal Nate Robrahan, who added that on a scale from one to 10, these students are an 11.
The 900 high school students were joined by high school faculty and staff; city officials including Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll and Mayor Pro Tem Sam Bolt; members of the Wyoming Board of Education and other school officials including Superintendent Craig Hoekstra; and community members at the Thursday assembly.
“It is different this year,” Robrahan said to those in attendance. “You know we always try to make the assembly fresh.”
To kick off the event, the school celebrated its diversity showcasing the 32 different countries represented in the school with an Olympic-style Parade of Nations (pictured above) with students carrying cards and flags of the different nations. The parade made a circle through the gym and then finally circled around the large United States flag that had been unfolded by the Wyoming High School’s Varsity Dance Team.
Guest speaker Dr. Mulonge Kalumbula, originally from the Congo and who graduated from the former Wyoming Rogers High School (now the Wyoming High School), talked about how the kindness of strangers allowed him to become a better person and in turn Kalumbula is now in a position to help students like himself. Kalumbula is the the supervisor for the Social Studies, Career Technical Education, World Languages and Advanced Placement Program at Grand Rapids Public Schools.
Sophomore Alpha Wolfs
From there, teacher John Doyle took the stage, describing each Alpha Wolf before announcing the person who was then congratulated by friends and family.
It was sophomore Anna Salvador who came to her teacher’s aid one Saturday morning to help clean the room after a homecoming event. She came alone but cheerfully did the task at hand, Doyle said. “She is kind to everyone,” Doyle said, adding it might be the reason she broke records when it came to voting among her peers and the staff.
The second sophomore Alpha Wolf is one who is making an impact in both the school and the Wyoming community, Doyle said. Sophomore Sawyer VanDyke is known for having “a smile that lights up a room,” Doyle said, adding that VanDyke has been described as a great role model, has high expectations of himself, has tremendous balance in his life, is kind, polite, a hard worker, a great leader, and most of all, is humble.
Junior Alpha Wolfs
Having experienced dark times in her own life, junior Kimberly Burhans has worked to help others find the silver lining in life’s challenges, according to Doyle. She works to make “connections with other kids” and has volunteered at Parkwood Elementary. She has been a part of Key Club and Student Council not because it looks good on a resume but because she wants to make Wyoming “a more loving and kind place.”
Positive, caring, modest, genuine, humble, sweet, gracious, respectful, polite, honest, compassionate, a great friend, a team player and a good heart was just some of the descriptions given of the other junior Alpha Wolf, Kim Nguyen. “She definitely bleeds a purple heart,” Doyle said, adding that Nyguen demonstrates peace, calm and serenity while having a fire within that has sparked others.
Senior Alpha Wolfs
The first senior Alpha Wolf is one who is an inspiration to many and determined to make the world a better place. Quoting Wyoming High senior Mounahinde Almame’ s own words, Doyle said “‘I’ve come a long way in the last few years, from Africa to the United States. I’ve learned that even when life is hard a person needs to keep going. We need to keep moving forward in life because we all can improve who we are, become better people whose world can change and they themselves also learn how to change the world like me.’
Doyle added “All I can say is thank you for showing Wyoming High School what it truly means to be a dreamer who never gives up.”
The other senior Alpha Wolf is one who is inherently kind, compassionate and gracious, Doyle said. “She always enters a classroom with a smile,” he said, adding that peers and teachers alike have noted she approaches everything with a positive attitude. According to Doyle, a teacher said “This Alpha Wolf inspires me to be a better human being.” A member of the Wyoming High School choir and cheerleading team, the final Alpha Wolf named was senior Taina Rodriguez.
Shout Outs
At the program, teachers are able to give Shout Outs to students for showing the traits of kindness, compassion, and graciousness.
Students recognized were Jahna Beechem, Josh Anesty, Hannah Martinez, Rohim Mohamid, Anacristina Torres, Rush Bash and Devin Jones.
