Scout's honor­I'll help you!
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

Cassandra Erhart, 18, a senior at East Central High School remembered sitting in Mrs. Holly Honchell's third grade class at Sunman Elementary. What she couldn't imagine was having to sit in the class and not understand the English language. That's why she decided to help a third grader, Eduardo Covarrubias, who was struggling with the language barrier.

"He's been with us two years, and at first wouldn't speak at all," noted Susan House, the guidance counselor at the elementary school. The progress Covarrubias has made was noticed by the entire school when he led the Pledge of Allegiance recently over the school's intercom system. "It was great," noted House, along with Principal Cindy Morton, who is excited about the interaction of the high school students with students in her building.

House noted the effort to have Erhart help with Covarrubias was a collaborative effort between Dana Glasgo, (Erhart's Girl Scout leader), Jim Stock, a guidance counselor at East Central and herself. She noted that the responsible actions of Erhart have made the project a pleasure. "She is reliable and very accountable - you can depend on her," she noted.

When Erhart signed up to take Spanish classes at East Central High School, she never dreamed it would take her all the way to Mexico. She also didn't know she would be able to help an elementary student communicate better with her ability to translate.

Erhart was chosen from 600 applicants for a trip to Mexico through the Indiana University Honors Foreign Language program, where she studied Spanish with four professors for seven weeks.
The four-Year Spanish student brought the knowledge of learning the Spanish language and the intense training from her trip to Mexico to Sunman Elementary.

Covarrubias has benefited from Erhart's years of learning as she helps him understand the English language alleviating some of the frustration he felt. She gives up two study periods a week and also has lunch with him.

"I went to Sunman Elementary School and had the same third grade teacher - Holly Honchell - as Eduardo does," noted Erhart, who added she decided to take on the challenge to help a little boy learn better and to help her earn the Gold Award in Girl Scouts.

Erhart has been in the Girl Scout program for 12 years and will be honored on Sunday with the Gold Award - the highest award a girl scout can achieve - at the Great Rivers Girl Scout Council Awards Banquet in Cincinnati. She is in Troop #1128 under the leadership of Dana Glasgo and Pam VanDyke.

This exceptional teenager has accomplished much and is very active in school activities playing four years on the school's volleyball team, and four years of tennis. She is the president of the Spanish Club and is
active in the Social Studies Club.

She is a member of the St. Jospeh Catholic Church in St. Leon, where she participates in the youth group and is also involved in Young Life, a non-denominational religious group. She is a part of the S.O.S. team at school, a group that supports other students.

Erhart is the daughter of Brian and Joan Erhart of St. Leon. She has a brother, Curtis, 16, who is a sophomore and a sister, Chelsey, 13, who is in the seventh grade.

Plans for the future for this ambitious young lady include attending Indiana University to major in physical therapy. You can also bet she'll be involved in activities there and will be helping others.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Cassandra Erhart, a senior at East Central High School, helps Eduardo Covarrubias, a third grader at Sunman Elementary with learning the English language.