Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 135, Number 49, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 8 December 2016 — Page 5

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Carter earns award Photo provided Seaman Dylan W. Carter received the Military of Excellence award during his graduation from boot camp on Oct. 28,from the Great Lakes Naval Station in Great Lakes, 111. This award is presented to the top recruit of the graduating class, which contained 428 recruits. Carter is a 2016 North Wood High School graduate and the son of Tracy and Sandy Carter, Nappanee.

North Wood High School Honor Roll

North Wood High School has released their honor rolls for the first trimester of the 2016-17 school year. Students named to the lists are as follows: FIRST TRIMESTER DISTINGUISHED HONOR ROLL, ALL AS Seniors Hannah Balasa, Courten Clark, Cody Cripe, Caleb Darr, Desirae Diamond, Lee Dougherty, Natalie Eby, Ryne Ewald, Nicole Flickinger, Sarah Foster, Erin Graber, Autumn Hajicek, Andrew Hunyh, Madison Kuhn, Ana Martinez, Andrew Minnich, Vincent Miranda, Amanda Rhoade, Jama Rice, Brittani Shields, Hannah Simon, Aria Skaggs, Hannah Stickley, Cameron Stillson, Summer Stillson, Hannah Walter, Joshua Weldy, and Cassandra Yoder. Juniors Payton Bear, Catherine-! Dinr, Jacob DougJ^y { !. Feller,, Cassie. Fleet wood,, jDsevv j HhekmgejtrWafali£;<Gerber;: Kylie Glaser, Madison Haynes, Alana Herpley, NJkala Herr, Cameron Hershberger, Kylie Hochstetler, Kate Jarvis, Alexis Klotz, Tessa Lehman, McKenzie Lincoln, Mason Mast, Jacob Metzler, Barbara Miller, Brock Miller, Mackenzie Moren, Mabel Myers, Esteban Perez, Breanne Resler, Zoe Roberts, Kami Schwartz, Arron Smith, Erica Stutsman, Carleigh Trippel, Paige Walter, Kennedy Wiens, Annelise Wingard, and Taylor Wollen. Sophomores Dawson Bley, Hannah Brubaker, Sarah Eberle, Riley Graber, Liam Hammond, Sean Hogan, Jordan Jones, Matthew Lehman, Luke Lingle, Kyle Luster, Erika Martinez, Dawson Maugel, Jason McNeill, Mae Metzger, Julia Miller, Reegan Miller, Kali Parisi, Preya Patel, Terri Perrin, Otto Schlatter, Laura Schrock, Christian Slaven, Hayden Snider, Nathan Stichter, Kate Vorhis, MacKenzie Weaver, Garrett Weldy, Whitney Wolfe, and Benedict Yoder. Freshmen Emilee Bontrager, Jason Borkholder, Lily Bowser, Toby Brenner, Tanner Bunch, Grace Clark, Tyler Cronkright, Cooper Davis, Delaney Davis, Hannah Eberle, Courtney Eby, Laura Eby, Trenton Edwards, Brock Flickinger, Kylee Gall, Makenna Gall, Joshua Golden, Mackenzie Grueser, Jenny Ha, Brittany Hershberger, Quinten Hunsberger, Caroline Jenkins, Alexzandria Jfesse, Jannessa Kauffman, Mason Kiel, Kennedy Kuhn, Araceli Martinez, Lauren Mikel, Madison Miller, Katelyn Rulli, Stephen Schmidt, Kirsten Schrock, Alexa Shaw, Brendan Slaven, Macey Smith, Anna Stevens, Eric Trent, Jordan Watson, Kylie Weaver, Brianna Weldy, Alexander Wiseman, John Wysong, and Tiana Yoder. PRINCIPAL'S HONOR ROLL GPA 3.66-3.999 Seniors Eli Aukerman, Linnea Bendes, Trey Bilinski, Sara Bowling,

Cause, from front

200 athletes. Those who have not seen Elliott in many years may also not "be aware that he is the father of a special needs child. His daughter, Laura Elliott, is a teenager who the Nappanee native says gives him a fully clear picture of just what is truly important in life. Elliott credits his daughter with keeping him in check each new day, saying no matter how tough life seems to get watching her overcome her daily struggles always leaves him counting his blessings. LIFE LESSONS "My own daughter is ons of my. biggest heroes," said Elliott. He went on to say that ho matter how bad a day gets...how,much financial pressures are crashing in on the family budget...or his own temporary setbacks which occur:., watching Laura Elliott's daily struggles helps him to better deal with life issues. This is based on his admiration and respect for his daughter who spends every moment of every day dealing with Asperger

Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHD), heightened hearing sensitivity, high levels of anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and the effects of speech delays. "It just kind of puts things into perspective for me," says Elliott, who admits that watching his daughter deal with so many different things affecting her at all levels and still coming through each day smiling and finding something to be happy about—has been one of his greatest life lessons. Rusty Elliott, and his wife Rochelle, have worked with the Elkhart County Special Olympics for a number of years and enjoy time spent with the athletes. Rochelle began helping the program about four years ago. A year later Rusty Elliott transitioned from his job as a truck driver being gone weeks at a time, to a local job where he was home more with his family—and able to also help with Special Olympics. Through his work coaching the athletes,

Community

Alexander Brovont, Kayla Chapman, Michael Chupp, Faith Clark, Jonathan Dauber, Josue Diaz-Turcios, Keaton Diener, Kerstin Doerr, Michael Edwards, Trace Engbrecht, Mason Feenstra, Nicholas Gerber, Haley Grove, Dylan Harmon, Vincent Herschberger, Morgan Jenkins, Alexandra Keiser, Kaitlyn Klein, Brooklyn Lehman, Peyton Manring, Dylan Maugel, Olivia Nix, Katelyn Pedler, Lorenzo Rocha, Kieran Schrock, Delaney Shay, Jacob Stump, Sergio Vargas, Brennan Yoder, Conner Yoder, and Jackalyn Yoder. Juniors Juan Baltazar Tapia, Victor Castillo, Adler Chamberlin, Benjamin Conrod, Hope Cripe, Ashley Cuacuamoxtla, Grant Disher, Kaitlin Eby, Savannah Feenstra, Hanna Fitzpatrick, Caleb Glick, Cade Henschen, Heather Hershberger, Kristen Hochstedler, Jared Hoffman, Luke Holland, William Ingle, Kamryn Koble, Hannah Krok, Micah Lehman, Courtney Lengacher, Caleb Lung, Marcus Mann, Faith Marker, Alexis Martindale, Emerson Mast, Grace McCoy, Alyssa Merryman, Jacob Mestach, Nathanael Mikel, Misty Miller, McGwire fji&fe'f&fty Nunrthdker, Jeffrey, fylicah Rjchner, AsHiyn Romerstergdr, Zachary Royster, Sarah Schmidt, Kara Simon, Bryce Sowers, Jadon Steinmetz, Sierra Sterling, Jamie Stoll, Shawn Stutzman, Connor Swihart, Matthew Thornton, Hunter Warren, Sawyer Warren, Edward Weirich, Brenna White, and Elizabeth Williams. Sophomores Gretchen Adams, Lukas Aukerman, Cindy Barahona, Mackenzie Bergman, Brayden Bitting, Avery Bontrager, Nicholas Bontrager, Amanda Byland, Rachel Clark, Katlynn Cline, Sierra Cross, Dawson Davis, Emily Demitruk, Rylee Detwiler, Sisa Eby, Sierra Eggers, Tyler Evers, Amanda Fike, Whitney Gessinger, Kenedy Gongwer, Amy Ha, Kyler Hauptli, Hailey Hollar, Victoria Hooley, Joshua Huynh, Amanda Jenkins, Hannah Klotz, Corbin Knight, Taylor Knight, Zoe Lawton, Mauricio Lomeli, Caitlin Lower, Jennifer Martinez, Brieanna McCormick, Brooklyn Menzie, Wesley Middaugh, Braden Mikel, Joshua Miller, Madison Newcomer, Richard Nissley, Zachary Parisi, Landon Parker, Ashton Rice,. Kira Robinson, Alismond Saengtavanh, Stephanie Salinas, Jacob Schmitt, Noah Schwartz, Abigail Slabaugh, Allison Steensma, Brayden Steffen, Morgan Stickley, Jordan Strozier, Grant Topping, Elizabeth Walters, Jeremiah Watson, Hannah Wenger, Alexis Yoder, Brittany Yoder, and Bronson Yoder. Freshmen Garrett Anglemyer, Grace Anglemyer, Kacia Anglemyer, Emily Barrera, Tyler Becker, Emily Bennett, Morgan Berry, Cierra Brinkerhoff, Kristin Chapman, Jazmin Cornejo, Skyler Duerksen, Kaicee Egolf, Joshua Ely, Elisa Espinosa, Michael Fisher, Brodee Geyer, Trey Graber, Kati Graff, Taylor Hartman, Malaki Headley, Julissa Helmuth, .Chase Homer, Elodee Jackson, Elizabeth Jansen, Lilyan Kauffman, Taylor Klose, Jessica Kramp, Rhiannon Landis, Carson Martin, Taylor Martin, Benjamin Mestach, Andrew Miller, Garrett Miller, Jaden Miller, Zachery Miller, Caroline Mullet, Garrett Myers, Madison Payne, Micah Phelps, Sophie Storer, Logan

Elliott learned that his uncle Dick Hartman (now deceased) had been a Special Olympian during Elliott's adult years after he had left his hometown. "That was pretty neat to hear from people who still remembered him," shared Elliott. The coach accepted the offer of serving as a board member for the Elkhart County Special Olympics program in August of this year. "I feel like this is what I was meant to do," shared Elliott who feels he finally found his calling in life. INSPIRATION TO LEAD What inspires Rusty Elliott to be a good coach for the Special Olympians goes far beyond his former time as an athlete. "As I've coached these athletes," said Elliott, "I think back to the coaches I had—Fred Myers, Rich Dodson, Jim Andrews. The things they taught me was sports related but it was more than that. They really taught some good stuff about V -I

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Telschow, Wesley Troyer, Jason Weldy, and Zachary Yoder. REGULAR HONOR ROLL - GPA 3.20 TO 3.659 Seniors Madison Baker Ott, Chaynie Belcher, Alaina Benjamin, Dylan Brugh, Josefina Castillo, Susana Castillo, Seth Clickovich, Stonewall Craft, Trevin Cripe, Bryce Davidhizer, Sean Fisher, Tyler Fitzpatrick, Kelli Gillis, Drake Gongwer, Cheyenne Grossman, Brandi Henderson, Savannah Hochstetler, Kassandra Howard, Kyle Ivin, Samantha Juarez, Garrett McKee, Kathryn Miller, Tristyn Miller, Jaron Mullet, Sloan Murphy, Saben Nusbaum, Cassidy Pedler, Ray Pletcher, Jenna Poulson, Noah Price, Keri Rohr, Austin Shapland, Spencer Sheline, Nicklas Sherk, Nicole Smith, Jessie Stouder, Taitlyn Trenshaw, Christina Troxel, Katie Troyer, Pedro Trujillo, Kaleb Weldy, Michael Werich, and Amanda Yaw. Juniors r Bailey Aguilar-Peachey, Jordan Bullard, Bryce Clouse, Madelyne Cortes-Bressler, Sabina Cdsifta, Bradley Delio, Leia Earl, Sydney Filley, Justin Gerber, Blake Germann, Darien Griffith, Ethan Hochstetler, Carlee Hostetler, Randall Kauffman, Weston Kemp, Trevor Klotz, Alexa Lynch, Nathaniel Martin, Brant Mast, Cooper Middaugh, Dylan Miller, Layni Miller, Jonathon Nelson, Megan Nunemaker, Juan Pantoja, Haylee Pennington, Chloe Reyes, Jemima Robinson, Alfredo Rubio, Colten Silveus, Megan Stankovich, Corbin Taylor, Eric Tener, Kaylee Walters, Katie Weldy, Alise Whiteman, and Brayton Yoder. Sophomores Courtney Anglemyer, Marcus Benedict, Justice Blessing, Kennedy Brinkhoff, Ciara Brown, Karli Chapman, Madison Craven, Reese Dudzinski, Matthew Dutkowski, Paige Eby, Gretchen Ellsworth, Ashley Escamilla, Jacob Falk, Dylan Fox, Paola Guillen, Riley Hershberger, Daniel Hochstetler, Libby Hochstetler, Kassidy Hockert, Brock Lehman, Brandon Marchant, McKynze Miller, Tydis Miller, Logan Nevenhoven, Lexi Parisi, Leslie Rangel, Marissa Rasler, Travis Royster, Andrii Sazhnev, Isaiah Schmitt, Trajan Schwartz, Grace Seals, Samantha Shrock, Sydney Stevens, Brandon Stoll, Dillion Weldy, and Lennix Yates. Freshmen Wrigley Barr, Kole Bellman, Ashlyn Branch, Thames Brubacher, Mykale Canter, Hailey Carney, Nathanael Clickovich, Olivia Craven, Ruth Diaz-Turcios, Austin Earl, Karlie Fielstra, Casey George, Henry Gratzol, Bryce Hamer, Landon Hollan, Chloe Hostetler, Cade Jackson, Jason Jackson, Cameron Jones, Jake Lone, Veshon Malone, Karli Mcßrier, Noah Mikel, MaCauley Miller, Megan Miller, Tiara Mitchell, Mervin Mullet, Jasmine Olvera, Lindsey Peterson, Ethan Ramer, Xavier Rocha, Ariana Runge, Allison Saengtavanh, lakiv Sazhnev, Talyn Schmucker, Duane Schwartz, Caleb Sherman, Nastasha Spicher, Joshua Stratford, Allison Thrams, Bailey Thompson, Kylie Thornton, Ethan Vance, Bradley Waldenville, Taylor Weigand, Avery Weldy, Jacob Wilson, and Olivia Wilson.

how to deal with life." Elliott still has contact with some of those coaches today. One source of exceptional pride for him comes from the positive comments those coaches have given him. "Hearing them say things about how far I've come, or that they are proud of who I am today, just means so much because I really respect them," said Elliott. Though one of those coaches is no longer alive to cheer on Elliott's efforts it is a sure bet that if Coach Jim Andrews were alive today he, too, would be proud of his former football player. Good endorsements don't come just from former coaches. "I remember Rusty as really good kid," said his aunt, Sharon Chapman. "And all the things he's doing now (with Special Olympics), all the stuff he's involved in, the work (with athletes), he's a really good man. We're all pretty proud of him." * The Special Olympics Coach big-

gest message to readers is to keep watching for upcoming events and visit them to support Elkhart County athletes of all ages and abilities. Every person who takes time to watch Special Olympians in action gives each athlete a feeling of self-confidence, worth and acceptance. The annual Big Basketball tournament is coming up February 4. It will feature other Special Olympics basketball teams coming to playoff in a tournament hosted by the Elkhart County Special Olympics Team. The event will be held at the North Wood Middle School, Wakarusa, and refereed by members of North Wood High School Basketball Team. Mark the date on calendars now, and be watching the Advance News for further details as the event approaches. For more information registration for the Big Basketball tournament, and other Special Olympics sports and upcoming events, visit www.wlkso.com and click on "sports events."

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