Warriors of the Month

Walnut Grove High School announces the teacher and athletes of the month!​
by Ruby Aderhold

Rebecca Jenkins, a senior at Walnut Grove High School, was chosen as one of the athletes of the month. Rebecca says that her competitive spirit has pushed her this far. She says, “It’s just in my nature. I really like to win, and even if I lose, I like to practice to get better. I always like to strive for the next thing.” Rebecca plays softball, tennis, and flag football. She goes on to  explain what makes these sports fun. “Softball is really fun. All my sports are really team sports, except for tennis. Tennis you play on your own, but you’re striving to win for your team. But flag football is a team sport. You have to communicate, and work with each other. You really have to get to know the girls. And it’s just really fun.”

Unfortunately, Christopher Myers was unavailable for comment, but congratulations, nonetheless!

Coach Sulkowski was announced as coach of the month. He says, “As long as I can remember I’ve always gravitated towards sports. After I got done playing multiple sports in high school, I just knew that was what I always wanted to do. So, I went to college, started coaching, and now I’ve been coaching for 20 years.” He goes on to say that coaching can be a very rewarding job, “Anytime you get to work with young people and you try to mold them and get them prepared for life…It’s a very rewarding job. It’s more than what people see on the field. It’s all the things that happen off the field as well.” Coach Sulkowski says, “I’m very honored. There’s so many great coaches that are in the building, so to be selected by one of my peers is a big honor.”

Ms. Whitehurst is the teacher of the month, and she say’s it feels marvelous. She says that she originally did not want to be a teacher, but ended up absolutely loving her job. “My first year was really difficult, but then I ended up loving it, because I really loved connecting with the students, and I loved breaking down difficult materials so they can understand. But mostly, I just like getting to talk to you guyss every day, and be there for you.” Ms. Whitehurst describes how her 11 years of teaching have been, “things have changed a little bit. I feel like our country has changed, education has changed a little bit. But I’d say the entire time I’ve been teaching I’ve loved it.” What makes teaching so enjoyable for her? “My favorite part is hanging out with a bunch of people who you care about. And also if you teach at a school with like-minded teachers and you make friends it’s like getting to hang out with your friends and babysit together. I also like to take really difficult content and make it fun. And there’s always those students who are like, 'Oh, I hated reading before your class but now I love it.' So it’s those little victories and getting to hang out with a bunch of people you care about all the time.”