Spotlight on: Landon Ploss
September 2025 Senior Student of the Month
The Student Council decides monthly student and teacher awards with a specific category each month. The category for September 2025 was “leadership” for both students and teachers.
The Senior Student of the Month awards go to two seniors per month who are nominated and voted on by Student Council members in grades 9-11.
The High School Teacher of the Month award goes to one teacher per month who is nominated and voted on by Student Council members in grades 9-12. All Teachers of the Month become eligible to become Teacher of the Year in June.
The September 2025 Senior Students of the Month are Landon Ploss and Avery Allen, and the September 2025 High School Teacher of the Month is Mrs. Jones.
Below is a Q&A with Landon Ploss:
Q. What was your reaction when you learned you’d been chosen as Student of the Month for leadership?
A. I was honored to be selected. I always do my best to lead my colleagues and teammates to the best of my ability.
Q. In your view, what qualities truly make someone a strong leader?
A. I think being able to put others before yourself and always being concerned with the collective group as a whole instead of yourself is a very important ability to have as a leader.
Q. Can you describe a time when you stepped up to guide others or make a positive change at school?
A. I know something that I’ve done as a leader to positively affect others at school is always being a respectful, responsible role model. Whether it’s for the boys on the football team, the people on stage in the musical or just the people who run into me in the hallways, I always do my best to show everyone that it’s not so hard to simply be a good person. That sort of model and attitude is rare in 2025.
Q. Is there someone you look up to who has shaped the way you lead?
A. I look up to my older brother, Aidan. I always looked up to him when he was in high school just a short five years ago. Seeing how he used to lead the football team, and do it without being flashy or striving to have all the glory, really stood out to me. That’s how I try to model the way I lead others.
Q. What advice would you offer to classmates who want to grow as leaders?
A. Do the right thing even when you think no one’s watching you. And be true to yourself. You can’t expect to try to lead others if you can’t respect yourself and do the right thing just because you know it’s right.
Q. How do you manage being a leader while also keeping up with schoolwork and activities?
A. It all comes in a package. The important thing is that my teammates and peers know that I am a high school boy just like them. I am not on any moral high ground whatsoever. Sometimes, I feel the pressure of failure and how everyone else may see me, but I remember that I am the same as them, and much like them, I won’t always do everything right the first time.
Q. Looking ahead, how do you see yourself using your leadership skills after high school?
A. Leadership skills are important in the workplace, and at home. Being able to do my work without anyone breathing down my neck in the future directly correlates to doing the correct thing even when no one else is around. And when you’re finally on your own living in your own home with whomever, it will always be important to be able to take control in dire events and be able to keep everyone safe and calm.