All Star Student of the Week

Described by teachers and fellow volunteers as consistent, caring and dependable, Foley High School senior Ben Kraemer has become a role model for numerous children in Central Minnesota. Over the past several years, Kraemer has spent much of his time involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

At just 10-years-old, Talahi Community school 5th grader Mackenzie Oksa can already tell people that she’s been an elected official. She was recently elected mayor of BizTown: which is part of a junior achievement program that gives kids a chance to run a miniature town for a day by themselves.

For six-year-old Kaitlyn Reichel and her Mom Cindy, cooking has become a chance to bond and spend time together. It's also given them a unique chance to give back to the community. The 1st grade Pine Meadow Elementary student recently entered a national contest in hopes of winning $30,000 for her school.

For as long as he can remember, Gopi Ramanathan says friends and classmates have tried to stump him with geography questions. Ramanathan has won gold at national geography bees and is always up for the challenge.

With an enthusiastic sense of humor and a huge smile, there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know 1st grader Austin Opsahl at Mississippi Heights Elementary. Austin has down syndrome and is a student in the essential living skills programs. One of his favorite parts of school is getting to see friends and play football.

Foley High School junior Kasey Milstroh is a record breaking machine. If you take one glance around the Foley school pool you’ll quickly figure out why. Her name has nearly taken over the entire record board.

This week for our All Star Student series we hit the Apollo High School tennis courts to meet with junior Sam Gerdes. Sam is no stranger to after school activities. She's involved in anything from athletics to helping freshman students at Apollo through Link Crew.

Grace Houston kicked my butt in arm wrestling. This shouldn't come as a surprise, considering I've always been a horrible arm wrestler. But more importantly, it's because the 12-year-old Kennedy Community School student has been dominating the competition for years.

Becker Bulldogs Softball has had a season to remember and they were led by the pitching duo of Senior Haley Harmon and Sophomore Brianna Corey. The two are WJON's All-Star Students of the Week. The girls discussed their season together as they look to make a push towards the state tournament, as well as what the future holds for their softball careers.

This week's All-Star Student helps set up for the morning announcements every school day. She either helps run the camera, or sits up to the microphone to do the reading, which happens to be her favorite part. From there Dolphin TV is streamed to the rest of the students via their smart boards in the classroom.