RWARD PAY IT F
When someone does something for you, instead of paying that person back directly, you pass it on to another person instead.
Sauk Valley Media asked our print and digital readers to nominate those individuals throughout the Sauk Valley that are Paying It Forward. We wanted to recognize those that go above and beyond, we hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we did.
Congratulations to all that were nominated! Keep Paying It Forward!
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Nominee: Granny Rose Animal Shelter
They gave me cat food to feed my cats when I was not able to buy any.
Nominated by: Dave Blackert, Sterling
Nominee: Josie Whaley
Josie spends a lot of time volunteering as a manager at the Dixon Food Pantry and often delivers food to people in emergency situations. She is a very kind-hearted lady!
Nominated by: Arnold Eykamp, Dixon
Nominee: Sara McCue
Sara is a dedicated teacher to Sterling High School. She started her career at SHS and has not left after 12 years. She continues to further her education and has earned two masters degree during her time teaching. At the end of each year, she sends post cards to each student when they received an A in her class and numerous parents have made positive remarks on how their child responds when they receive the postcard. She teaches special ed Math.
Nominated by: Ashley Kirkland, Sterling
Nominee: Vinny the Therapy Doodle
Vinny spreads love and kindness all throughout Dixon. He visits classrooms, hospitals, nursing homes and community events.
Nominated by: Kelly Shroyer, Dixon
Nominee: Michelle Christensen and Karen Reynolds
An out of area lender had failed to timely provide financing on a home sale that would have had a domino effect causing much hardship and grief to a few families. These two amazing ladies arranged financing (through Community State Bank in Rock Falls) in a single afternoon and saved all the transactions!
Nominated by: Kelli Walker, Rock Falls
Nominee: McDonalds Staff
I want to say THANK YOU to the staff at McDonalds for their respect and compassion to those with special needs. Thank you for treating these individuals with the same respect you treat each customer and for taking time to allow them to process while ordering. Thank you!!!!
Nominated by: Evan Zera, Dixon
Nominee: Kara Wisdom
Kara is a wonderful second grade teacher in Erie and retires at the end of the year after completing a career of making people’s days and fostering young minds! She is an easy “favorite” of so many former students and most recently Kara has gone out of her way MULTIPLE times to “pay it forward” and purchase dozens of peoples’ coffees at Rise Up in Erie! Each time she does this, she brings joy to so many people and it sparks other guests to also choose to “pay it forward” that day! Kara is always kind and thinking of how she can brighten another person’s day!
Nominate by: Kimberly Teats-Garrison, Erie
Nominee: Nik Jakobs /Jakobs Brothers Farms
Donated several bushels of grain to the Food Bank of Whiteside County.
Nominated by: Steve Elgin, Coleta
Nominee: Robert Roush
He has helped people out of his own pocket putting others first, he is on S.S.D.I. and can nearly pay his own rent and utilities, he’s well deserving for a little help even though he would never ask. His health isn’t good either!
Nominated by: Jerry Adams, Rock Falls
Nominee: Brenda Doering
Always making crafts to donate to benefits for families that have lost somebody or somebody that has cancer she’s always done this and she’s such a caring person!
Nominated by: Michelle Maxfield, Rock Falls
Nominee: Danielle Cantu
Helping a disabled person grocery shop and do household chores with no expectation of payment.
Nominated by: Lisa Grygiel, Dixon
Nominee: Taylor Reyna
Taylor Reyna is the president of Rock Falls High School’s Student Council. As a senior, Taylor has been a part of Student Council for her entire high school career. Student Council serves as the student’s representatives and is considered to be an honor to be a part of, let alone be the president of. Students on the council are to represent the entire student body. One of the major responsibilities of Student Council is to organize events or activities for the student body. For example, Student Council organizes Homecoming Week, Blood Drives, and other events throughout the school year meant to promote a positive school environment.
Working with Student Council, Taylor has greatly shaped the way Rock Falls High School students experience high school. One could argue that school and education are pillars of a community. So many community events and community pride are centered around schools and Rock Falls High School is no different. We are a school that promotes pride in our community. Rock Falls High School has been positively impacted by the work that Taylor does in Student Council; therefore; Rock Falls itself has also been positively impacted by the work that Taylor has done in Student Council.
Taylor has helped organize so many events and activities at Rock Falls High School for 4 years. Taylor has helped organize the all-school picnic in the fall, homecoming week, a rock, paper, scissors competition, the spring blood drive, prom week, and other smaller activities throughout the year like a secret spirit week and Christmas activities. These activities greatly impact the students at Rock Falls High School. Being a graduate of Rock Falls myself, I can see how much the student body has changed over the years. Being a teacher at Rock Falls, I directly see how much the students enjoy the activities that Student Council plans and organizes.
The activities that Taylor helps plan and organize happen throughout the school year at Rock Falls High School. The events are spread out throughout the year, always providing something for the students to look forward to.
While it is true that Student Council organizes all of the school events, it is also true that the events would not run as smoothly without the work of Taylor.
I want to tell you a story about one such event. During Homecoming Week, we end the week with a school-wide pep assembly. For the assembly, students sign up to play games in front of the entire school. There are 8 games in total. Honestly, the pep assembly is a huge stress for me. There are a lot of moving parts: creating the games, gathering supplies, organizing all of the students who are playing in the games, and making sure the participants understand the rules. However, this year, I was able to sit back and simply watch the pep assembly because of Taylor. Taylor took a leadership role during the assembly. She not only directed the members of student council, assigning them tasks during the assembly, but she also quickly directed the participants and ensured that they understood the rules. The games and pep assembly went better than it ever has. All because of the leadership skills that Taylor demonstrated.
Taylor continues to showcase her leadership skills. The day before Thanksgiving Break, student council organized a rock, paper, scissors competition that took place all day. At the end of the day, we had an assembly for the winning students to face off in front of the entire school. Unfortunately, we were having a few technical problems with projecting the tournament bracket. This did not deter Taylor. Taylor took it upon herself to take the microphone and run the competition. Once again, I was able to sit back and enjoy. I don’t say this lightly, but I am very proud of the work that Taylor has done for her fellow students.
Our school motto is “Rock Falls High School provides educational excellence for all students in order to prepare them to be productive members of a global society.” The hope is that if we can get students involved in our school, they will want to be involved in their community. Taylor promotes our motto to her very core.
Nominated by: Vicki Swegle, Rock Falls High School
Nominee: Amazing Grace
This congregation brought a box of donuts to every Sterling Precinct on Primary Election Day! It was such a thoughtful thing to do... and much appreciated by the election judges. They are amazing!
Nominated by: Patrice Estes, Sterling
Nominee: Jim Niemann
Always coordinates our monthly get togethers. Where, when. Does a great job!
Nominated by: Jan Messer, Mt. Morris
Nominee: Lori Miller
Lori is the best! When I couldn’t work at my salon because of Covid closing everything she sent me a check in the mail with a nice card just because she has a heart of gold. When I was able to come back to work, she then looked through my appointment book to treat others I had scheduled just because she wanted to. Lori is a dear friend that I’m so lucky to have in my life!!!
Nominated by: Michelle Newman, Dixon
Nominee: Lois Herdt
She cooks for the free lunch that First Methodist church provides 4xweek. And she doesn’t just cook up a storm. She also bakes special treats, like shamrock cookies this past week. She helps with the food pantry by making sure everything is orderly.
Nominated by: Carol Ahrens, Rock Falls
Nominee: Michelle Musgrove
Her and her family had a gathering at The Moose and their gifts all went to Toys for Tots! She is a very caring and supportive lady!
Nominated by: Rosa Barb, Sterling
Nominee: Jim Craft
Jim volunteers at Vincent St Paul food bank every week. He hands out food, takes phone calls and picks up the weekly milk and eggs supply for the food bank. He has done so for several years.
Nominated by: Mary Kobbeman, Rock Falls
