On December 16 at the Sauk Prairie Optimist Club Zoom meeting, senior Joseph (Joe) Baumgardt, left, son of Kenneth and Tiffany Baumgardt, was presented the Optimist Club’s Student of the Month award for November by Shane Been, Assistant Principal at SPHS, and Optimist President Bart Mauch. Joe and his mother, Tiffany, were at home, and Been was at the HS; all participated via Zoom. Joe received a plaque, an Optimist pen and a Culver’s gift certificate.
Been, starting his sharing about Joe, said, “When you are in his presence, you just feel good!” In the top 10 percent of this class, he is “an outstanding student who has persevered during these difficult times” and takes Advance Placement classes as well as hands on classes.
The qualities he brings to the classroom are two-fold, Been shared. “He has a curiosity about him. When he is interested in something, he pursues it.” The second is his energy. “He was part of the soccer team that went to State and earned a second place finish. Joe was a ‘rock’ for his team and displayed high energy always. He has the ability to bring people together and the chemistry he brought to the team was outstanding.”
Joe is considering attending UW-Madison in either biology or chemistry.