For September, the Exchange Club Lake Highlands named Lake Highlands High School students Blake Lueder and Dani Austin Youth of the Month, awarded to high school students who attain high levels of academic success and community service.

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Blake, who ranks 8th in his senior class, participated in 2011 in reinstating the men’s varsity gymnastics team at LHHS, for which he is currently captain.

In his freshman and sophomore year he was a member of the wrestling team and all-state choir. He’s a Bell Boy, senior class president, and he sings for the youth choir at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

His parents are Tom and Lauri Lueder.

In his application for the award, Blake told the exchange club about a recent mission trip to Costa Rica and the lessons he learned. Blake told the audience that through his experience on the mission trip he has learned that “happiness does not come through wealth, but through service.”

Dani is a member of Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society) and is the senior service coordinator officer for the National Honor Society and the Girls Service League.

She’s on the LHHS tennis team and has been co-director, mentor and camper with High Adventure Treks for Dads and Daughters (HATS), a program that teaches girls advanced outdoor camping and survival skills while building lasting father-daughter relationships.

Her parents are Lindy and Brian Austin.

Dani told the exchange club that it has been “an honor to make a difference in girls’ lives through HATS.”

 

Emily Barrows and Jonathan Garza earned the Character Counts Awards from the Exchange Club for exhibiting the “pillars of character”: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Emily has been active in the LHHS Band, serving as drill assistant during her sophomore year, section leader in her junior year and drum major in her senior year. She also is the head of the band’s spirit team and is a captain of the LHHS Wranglers.

She is a member of the National Honor Society and her teachers described her as a person “who always helps other before herself.”

Her parents are Jeff and Carol Bowers.

Jonathan is a football team captain and has participated in LHHS activities throughout his high school career.

His teachers and coaches described him as a “leader in the classroom every day,” and say that Jonathan’s teachers and classmates are “better for just knowing him.”