Grand County High School students of the month for March 2019 are Mercedes Larsen and Sean McKay.
Mercedes Larsen is the daughter of Ray and Gaylyn Larsen.
Larsen says her favorite class is English because she thoroughly enjoys the teacher, but her most challenging class is Government because, as she says, “We learn about current events. We learn about other people’s opinions and most importantly, our own.”
Mr. Cameron, her junior year English teacher, says Mercedes “is the type of person who exemplifies the quote ‘Teamwork makes the dream work.’ Not only does she put the needs of others before her own, but she does so with humor and a sense of humility. Mercedes is the type of person that everyone should want to have on their team.”
Mercedes says she isn’t a part of any clubs or activities within the school because she works so much, but her teachers say she is always there and willing to help out anyone with anything whenever needed. Within the past year she has helped with a fundraiser for the history trip to Washington, D.C., and New York, New York, in April.
Mercedes has been employed at the local City Market for nearly two years.
She says she plans to attend Dixie State University in the Fall of 2019 to study special education. She has interned in Severe Special Education at GCHS under the guidance of Ann Austin and loved it so much that she has decided to pursue a degree in it.
Sean McKay is the son of Kaci and Tom McKay.
Sean says his favorite class is Politics and Government.
“We learn a lot of important things happening today,” he says.
He also remarks that Statistics 1040 was his most challenging class because “it was an extremely fast paced class.”
Sean has been a part of the school’s boys basketball team. He is currently the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) president. Sean is GCHS’s Business and Marketing Sterling Scholar.
His teacher, Cayden Black, says, “Sean is a hardworking student who has the ability to adapt, and overcome challenges.”
His teachers say Sean has accomplished many things in his fields of interest: he helped the Youth Garden Project with a public service announcement on the radio to promote their organization, he made a brochure for the Moonflower Community Cooperative and he has helped create water conservation tips for the City of Moab. His water conservation tips were published in the Moab Happenings publication.
Sean has been working at the Moab Recreation and Aquatic Center as a lifeguard for about two years now. He helps out with swim lessons for the youth as well.
Sean says he is planning to attend the University of Utah this fall and then plans to transfer to the University of California in San Diego.
This article was written by GCHS teaching assistant Ana Castner.
