Highland Central School District and the Highland Husky community celebrated and recognized Lawrence Dahowski, Anthony Krusen and Beatrix Krasnyanik as Highland’s Leaders of the Pack for the month of December.

At the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, December 7, Lawrence, Anthony and Beatrix received their awards as parents and teachers sat in the audience. One by one, several school administrators shared their comments on each of the students before they received their awards. Beatrix is a first grader at Highland Elementary School. Her teachers said Beatrix is a ‘sweet and kindhearted girl’ who is supportive of her fellow students in the classroom and who goes out of her way to show kindness to others.

Anthony is a sixth grade student at Highland Middle School. When it comes to getting his school work done, Anthony said his teachers are there to assist him with his work and he himself tries to learn as much as possible from his teachers. Anthony said he personally strives to get the correct answers. Being recognized by his teachers as a leader, which he learned from his father, and a standout student makes him happy to have received this award. “It’s a really big accomplishment, I’m really happy to have that,” Anthony said. “It makes me so proud of him. We’re honored to be his parents and we’re so blessed with him,” Anthony’s mother, Megan Krusen said. Anthony is also a student-athlete and plays on the baseball and football teams. When it comes to sports, Anthony said he comes from school and starts on school work so he then has time to go out for sports. He also sets an early alarm to make sure he is on time in the morning. Anthony said he would like to win the award again but for now he is focused on a social studies exam coming up soon in his class. Anthony’s goals one day are to be a professional athlete but if not, then he would like to become an architect. He sends thanks out to his teachers because they are the ones to him that got him here today and they are the best teachers that he has ever had.

“It makes me feel proud that I’m recognized for being a good student and a good active member of my school community,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t expect to have that many comments and that many people appreciate my presence in the school and it makes me feel like I’m really a part of the school community.” Even with on-going pandemic, Lawrence said he self-motivated himself to keep up with school work and stayed focused despite any roadblocks. When receiving the award, Lawrence’s mother Claudia said she was overwhelmed by the support given and proud of him achieving the award. “It’s a wonderful way for a senior to go out of the school,” Claudia said. A senior student, Lawrence is slowly making his way to graduation this coming spring. According to Claudia, Lawrence has been accepted into the Criminal Justice program at State University of New York Ulster. Lawrence says he wants to attend the police academy and apply for jobs at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police. Lawrence offers this advice to his fellow students and readers: “Sometimes in school you have a hard time and if you stay focused and motivated no matter how much you don’t want to do something, when you finish it, you feel stronger than how you started,” Lawrence said.

Andrew Carnright, assistant principal of Highland Middle School, shared that Anthony is a respectful student who takes initiative in excelling in the classroom. He has a positive attitude and can be seen as a role model to his fellow students, Carnright said. “He’s (Anthony) just a model student,” Carnright said. According to Kevin Murphy, assistant principal of Highland High School, students are not recognized for one singular achievement but recognized for a variety of successes and accomplishments. All of these aspects and successes are then reviewed by Murphy and other school administrators when choosing the student to recognize for Leader of the Pack. With Lawrence, Murphy shares that he is a great student to have at Highland. “Lawrence is an outstanding student, who he splits his time between the high school and BOCES,” Murphy said. “He exhibits all of the qualities and characteristics that we expect from all of our Highland students. ”