Student of the month: Reese Cox

     Each month, Monticello High School nominates a student who exhibits positive behavior, as part of an initiative called PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports).

     The students support the school’s characteristics of Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Safety, and Integrity.

     Reese Cox saw an opportunity to help. So she did.

     Cox, a freshman at Monticello High School, was selected as Student of the Month for supporting a classmate during MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing.

     “Reese saw she needed help and stepped right up,” said Rebecca DeWitte, English teacher at MHS.

     Cox assisted the classmate in logging in for MAP testing while DeWitte was assisting other students.

     “She sat right next to me,” Cox said, “so I’m like, ‘Ms. DeWitte, do you want me to help her with this?’

     “I just felt bad, because I think she (the classmate) was kind of lost, and Ms. DeWitte was already busy with other students, so I wanted to help her.”

     Overall, Cox said, however, that high school has worked out well for her.

     “I love it,” she said. “There are a lot of different opportunities for people. It’s not just sports, and that’s it. There is speech and drama, and there are clubs and different things.”

     Cox played volleyball this fall, was part of the high school softball team last summer, and plans to be involved in speech and track.

     As far as high school subjects, Cox said she enjoys psychology.

     “I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I actually do,” Cox said. “I learned a couple things about the sleep stages, and that’s kind of cool to think about, what we’re doing while we’re sleeping and what goes on in your mind.”

     Helping others is something Cox is likely to keep in mind throughout her high school career.

     “Reese frequently volunteers to work with other students, and goes out of her way to make people feel welcome,” DeWitte said.

     She is the daughter of Dean and Beth Cox, Monticello.