Oeric Tuato’o waits for his teacher at the end of every day so he can hold the door for her and tell her to have a great evening.

“Even though this is such a small action, it makes a huge difference in our school culture,” stated Star Lake Elementary principal Kris Rennie, who nominated the fourth-grader as the Mirror’s Scholar of the Month for January.

Oeric always looks for something he can help out with around the classroom and school community, Rennie said.

“He cares about making our community a strong, healthy, and positive place to be and shows this through going out of his way to greet students, parents, and staff every morning.”

Oeric is also a strong leader in the classroom. He consistently goes above and beyond to offer a helping hand to his teachers and classmates and he always pushes others to do their best, Jennie added.

“He tries his hardest on all assignments and sets academic goals that he strives to achieve. He is accepting and embracing of those with differences in culture, learning styles, and interests.”

In addition to Oeric’s strong academics, he is also “one of the most trustworthy, hardworking students in our school,” Jennie added.

Oeric, who is a member of Star Lake’s safety patrol, said his favorite subject is math.

“Math is a lot of fun,” Oeric said. “I like division, addition, multiplication and subtraction.”

He hopes to one day use math to be a building engineer like his dad.

Oeric’s advice for other students to help them be their best in school?

“Try your best and don’t give up.”

More information

Nominations for the Mirror’s Scholar of the Month are based on a scholar’s perfect attendance, academic performance and their demonstration of positive and productive behaviors in school with no discipline.