Efrain Santana and Tabitha Chapman are the BEACON Afterschool Program’s Afternoon All-Stars for the month of February at Helen M. Knight Elementary.
Efrain is a first-grader in Ms. Savoie’s class. His parents are Efrain and Teodora Santana. He was nominated by tutor Chloe Hollis, who said that Efrain is a great kid, full of interesting ideas and good energy.
“He is a role model for his peers; leading by example,” Hollis said. “Although it’s hard to come to tutoring after school, Efrain maintains a positive attitude that is uplifting to everyone at the table.”
Hollis said that Efrain often says or does kind, encouraging things and lends a hand, pushing in a classmate’s chair or helping clean up when it’s time to leave.
“All this and he has improved his reading and math skills through lots of focused, hard work as well,” she said.
When asked about BEACON, Efrain said his favorite things about the program are math, drawing dinosaurs and spelling.
He also sticks by the motto, “It’s not about winning, it’s about learning!”
Tabitha is a third-grader in Mr. Meador’s class. Her parents are Shawn and Tammy Chapman.
Tabitha was nominated by Enrichment Leader Charles Diem, who said he chose Tabitha for a multitude of reasons.
“In the four months I have had her, she has always gone straight to her homework and most of the time (finishes) it during club,” he said. “She is an intelligent girl.”
Diem said he also believes that a student who is nominated for Afterschool All-Star must not only display a great work ethic, but also character.
“Tabitha is overflowing with character,” he said. “She is one of the sweetest, polite, caring girls I have in the program. Not just toward me, but also toward her fellow classmates and the various other students in her clubs.”
