Front row: Nana Hinson
Second row: Lili Nandell, Olivia Fuller, Julieta Ortiz, Ella Stineman, Alex Kalina, Charles Davidson
Back row: Board Member Rick Hergert, Board Member Casey Cooney, Jesse DiLorenzo, Leif Asper, Tom Boston-Kemple, Board Member Nick Pfeiffer, Superintendent Aaron Davidson  

The Clear Creek Amana Community School District announces the February 2026 Students and Staff of the Month Honorees.

This program recognizes one student and one staff member each month from an elementary school, the middle school, and the high school for exceeding expectations.

Nana Hinson is the Elementary Student Of The Month from North Bend Elementary
Nominated by Mrs. Ruebel

She always is doing what is expected. She's a kind student, always works hard, has a great attitude, and does her best. She's a great peer buddy and a great role model to kids in the class! She is a kind partner to whoever she's with, she also does things without being asked.

Charles Davidson is the CCA Middle School Student Of The Month 
Nominated by Aaron Bohr

Charles is a dedicated student and always puts his best foot forward in class.  He is a self-starter and takes an active part in his education, and is always looking for ways to improve. Charles models good character because he has shown that he can be trusted.  I often have him take direction and complete work independently while I work with students that need more guidance, and he always does what is expected of him.  As a result, I sometimes pull him for CLT and homework where he could be enjoying free time with his peers. Despite this, he never complains.  He is a great citizen in class and treats everyone with respect.   He also made me Christmas cookies!

High School Newspaper - The Anchor Staff are the High School Students Of The Month
Nominated by Marissa Moore

• Lili Nandell is The Anchor’s Editor-in-Chief
• Ella Stineman is The Anchor’s Editing Lead
• Julieta Ortiz is The Anchor’s Writing Lead
• Olivia Fuller is The Anchor Graphic Design Lead

Throughout a teacher’s career, there are whole classes, groups of students, and even individuals who leave a lasting impression. In the fall of 2022 I took over the newspaper staff and between our first class and this exact moment there has been tremendous growth. Growth is at the center of all of our conversations. As a staff, we want to show growth year after year, issue after issue, article after article, and design after design. These four senior leaders are a living, breathing example of that growth. 

Olivia, you are the joy on our staff, and your growth is something that I have loved watching bloom. When you made the switch from writing to designing I knew that we were all going to benefit immensely. In your role as our Graphic Design Lead, you have done an incredible job bringing our vision of The Anchor to life with a level of creativity and precision that I believe truly sets us apart. Thank you for making our staff a little bit brighter. 

Julieta, you are my quiet thinker and our voice of reason. The growth you have shown in your writing is truly amazing. When I think about you and your role on our staff, the word I keep coming back to is integrity. You research with integrity. You interview with integrity. You write with integrity and even more importantly, you live your life with integrity. Thank you for bringing your authentic self to everything that we do to every article you write. 

Ella, my slay queen and silly goose, your growth in planning, organization, and of course editing are unmatched. There is nothing better than watching a member of the staff read your edits and suggestions and smile. Your ability to deliver kind and constructive criticism is a true gift. The relationships that you have built with the people on staff hold us together and keep us moving forward. Thank you for being the keeper of our calendar, deadlines, and chaos - we would be lost without you. 

Lili, my right hand woman, your growth in the area of leadership and feedback is inspiring. I love watching you share holistic feedback in front of the class, which if anyone knows you, they know that this is a huge deal. But what I have loved the most, is the care, time, and attention you give to each individual student on the newspaper staff. From the creation of the website to mentoring younger students and everything in between, your hard work, dedication, and love for The Anchor doesn’t go unnoticed - thank you.

Alex Kalina is the Elementary Staff of The Month from North Bend Elementary
Nominated by Principal Brenda Parker

Alex goes above and beyond every day.  She is kind, compassionate and a problem solver.  Alex is always positive, attentive and is incredible at what she does.  Alex jumps in to help wherever she can.  She has an amazing sense of humor that helps keep our office such a happy place. Alex is an attentive listener, meets the students' needs when they come into the health office and is excellent about reaching out to families.  She works hard, always is positive and does whatever it takes to make NBE a better place.

Leif Asper is the Middle School Staff of The Month
Nominated by Aaron Bohr

Mr. Asper's class runs like a well-oiled machine.  Every day I am there to support students, I am impressed by his depth of knowledge, how everything is organized and how content is accessible to all students.  Everything is incredibly efficient and students are always actively engaged.  In addition, every square inch of his room is covered in engaging pictures and other science stimuli that I'm sure took forever to collect and probably cost a small fortune to purchase.  I can tell Mr. Asper cares about his students being successful ESPECIALLY for their future because he always discusses being ready for high school.  When he has to correct a student on behavior or work ethic, he always frames it in a way so students realize these are the things that are going to prevent them from achieving success beyond middle school.  I believe Mr. Asper is the kind of teacher that most students will come to appreciate the further removed they are from his class, because he is purposeful about helping students help themselves and he is the reality check a lot of students need before high school.

Jesse DiLorenzo is the High School Staff of The Month
Nominated by Riley Partridge

Jesse goes above and beyond as a staff member by his drive to constantly be creating lessons that are fun and engaging for his students. This can be seen just by looking at the Honors Chemistry rubric and finding out that the entire class is set up like a game where CFU's are set up as mini bosses and each summative assessment is the final boss. The creativity doesn't stop their. The interactive lessons he provides, from seeing how different metals change the color of flame due to their different electron configuration to creating a whole escape room lesson for test review are just a few of the many examples that have the students excited to attend his class. All this takes an immense amount of planning and that's why almost every Saturday morning you can find him in his classroom modifying lessons and preparing for his upcoming week.

For me, this year being a first year teacher, I have had the pleasure of sharing an office with Jesse and he has been a fantastic role model for me as I try to navigate the very difficult first year of teaching. Without his guidance and knowledge I would not be able to create some similar lessons to his for my own chemistry students that help make a difficult class fun and engaging for them. If I have a question or problem he always drops what he is doing and lends an ear and helps give advice or suggestions. Mr. DiLorenzo is an amazing representation of CCA and having people like him around will help in keeping our district rowing in the right direction.

Tom Boston-Kemple is the District-Wide Staff of The Month
Nominated by Brad Fox

Tom "retired" a couple of years ago but continues to monitor the crosswalk each morning in Tiffin. I have heard from countless people how Tom brightness their mornings with a wave, smile, or gesture that just oozes happiness and positivity. Tom cares for each and every student and helps make sure they make it to school safely each morning. To those of us that know Tom well, we realize that what everyone else sees each morning is what we have always seen in Tom. He's just a great man that wants to help everyone have a great day! Tom always lends a helping hand to anyone that needs it. Thanks Tom for all that you do for CCA!