Grand County High School students of the month for April 2019 are seniors Auburn Jackman and Andrew Hansen.
Auburn is the daughter of Ryan and Christina Jackman. Her favorite classes are AP Calculus and AP English because “I love the individual challenges they each pose and the ability they have to stretch my brain’s capacity and understanding,” she said.
Auburn recalls that her most challenging classes at Grand County High School (GCHS) are AP Calculus, AP Art and AP English just due to the reality that “it sometimes gets challenging to juggle the workload along with my personal life and extracurriculars.” Those classes demand a lot from her outside of the classroom in addition to inside of it.
Auburn is very active in the school community. She is on the track and cross country teams, she has been in the annual fall musicals (with lead roles in two of them), she has competed in Drama and solo ensemble, she has spent four years in student government and in marching band (she is the drum major of the 2018 season). In addition, she is this year’s World Language Sterling Scholar.
Maralee Francis, the Drama teacher who puts on the school plays and the student government adviser, says, “Auburn has been a joy to work with over her years in student government. She is creative, energetic, and dedicated to doing her best.”
Auburn is similarly deeply engaged in the larger Moab community as well.
As she puts it, “I love to be involved in the community as much as I can” through church, teaching and developing local 4-H summer classes, mentoring children through the Moab Valley Multicultural Center’s Amigos Club and volunteering at races and holiday events.
Auburn has worked at the Grand County Public Library for nearly three years now. This past summer she started working at the Moab Aquatic and Recreation Center as a lifeguard and a food runner at Antica Forma along with her library job.
Auburn plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo in August and will continue to develop her love of learning, music and the Spanish language. She hopes to one day start a business of her own.
Andrew Hansen is the son of William and Catherine Hansen.
His favorite classes are AP English and woodworking. For the former, he loves “the way we analyze different poems and books to find complex meanings within literature.”
And with woodworking, he really enjoys “being able to create things we need, but also being able to understand all that goes into making certain projects.”
His AP English teacher, Alanna Simmons-Cameron, says, “Andrew brings his A-game every day. He’s all heart and effort. He has grown enormously as a writer and communicator throughout the year, and that’s a testament to his effort and ability to nourish and push his innate potential to a higher plane. Plus, and the importance of this cannot be overstated, Andrew is fun, and he is funny. He brings joy to a rigorous and challenging class. He reminds us to laugh and enjoy life while we work hard. We all love Andrew.”
Andrew explains that AP English is also his hardest class because “after working hard to find the complex meanings, we then need to relay those ideas effectively and with textual evidence.”
Andrew has been a part of the high school football and basketball teams where he received a region award for football. He is known for his sportsmanship. He is also involved in the school’s history club.
In Andrew’s free time, he volunteers by raking up and cleaning yards for the elderly. He has even helped demolish an old shed for a senior in need of manual labor. In sum, if something needs to be done, Andrew will step up, figure out how to do it and do it well, and help others in the process.
He has been a driver for the dumpster bin company here in town for about a year now.
Andrew plans on serving a mission after high school and attending Utah Valley University once he returns.
