When senior Maggy Liu heard her name over the announcements on Oct. 15, she felt thrilled and a little confused.

“Ms. Patel yelled, ‘Yay Maggy!’ and I was pretty embarrassed, but it felt great,” Liu said.

The Associate Student Body (ASB) has introduced the Student of the Month Award to recognize students who go out of their way to help their peers, teachers and school.

“A lot of people I don’t know came up to me and congratulated me, and I was just like, ‘I got this for painting a skull [for senior Homecoming decorations],’” Liu joked.

Modesty aside, Liu thinks the award is “an awesome way to motivate students.”

Senior Kabir Chandrasekher agrees that Liu deserved the honor, adding, “Maggy’s one of those people who’s involved in everything and still somehow has time to lead Homecoming decorations.”

Forms to nominate students are available in the office and can be filled out by anyone—students and faculty alike. The ASB votes each month to select which student should receive the award. While this can sometimes be a “long and sometimes contentious process,” ASB President Sasan Saadat feels that it is worth the effort.

"Many students here practice random acts of kindness, courtesy or helpfulness beyond the call of their responsibilities—like staying late after a sport to help clean up, or helping decorate for a spirit day even if they're not a part of student council,” Saadat said. “We want to recognize students in a non-meritocratic way, honoring them not for their extracurricular or academic prowess, but for practicing good citizenship on a regular basis."

Students prominent in leadership, athletics and academics have traditionally been recognized and honored, but the Student of the Month Award is not limited to a certain discipline.

“As far as I know, [the award] is new,” Saadat said. “At least, it hasn't been formally done like this in quite some time.”

There are no specific criteria to nominate or receive the award.

“It’s about acknowledging students for good citizenship,” Saadat said.

Sophomore Celia Kohler said the award is “a great way to recognize and support students for the great things they do, usually without the rest of us even knowing.”