“I’d like to think that Toll Gate is every person’s high school,” Assistant Principal Candace Caluori said. “We are really highlighting a cross section of the students’ abilities, talents and backgrounds.”

For years, Caluori has wanted to create a student of the month program at Toll Gate, and on Wednesday morning she hosted the first ceremony with 21 students, their parents and other members from the administration in the school library.

According to Caluori, having a student, or students, of the month gives the school a chance to celebrate the hard work of not just the top of the class or the sports stars, but also those students who are making real progress and putting in their best efforts.

David Tober, fellow assistant principal, said, “This won’t just be the scholars and AP students, and that shows everyone can achieve in some way. We want to highlight what kids do well, and that’s important when you are trying to promote a positive school environment.”

Through Caluori’s program, all of the departments nominate one male and one female student each month for student of the month.

Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz admitted that the new student of the month program is something Caluori wanted for years and she put everything together from “A to Z.”

Interim Superintendent William Holland said with everything going on in the district lately many people are forgetting about all the positive things that do occur through Warwick Public Schools.

“This is a great way to showcase some of the good happening throughout the district. We are building the leaders of the future, and we should recognize that,” he said.

The short ceremony was held before the start of school in hopes that parents would be able to attend before leaving for work. Caluori wanted parents to attend so that they could see the students in their school environment and know that the school recognizes and appreciates the efforts put forth by their children.

“Plus,” Caluori said, “I like to start the day on a positive note, and there are so many great things that go unnoticed at this school. I wanted to change that.”

This month, 21 students were recognized throughout the different departments of Toll Gate. The students were Fatima Javed and David Oliver in English; Maddison Gothberg and Jace Beecher in math; Alison Lewis and Derek Penta in science; Katelyn Foeller and Brandon Fogarty in social studies; Elizabeth Foss in bussiness; Natalie Mann and Alexander Bonenfant in world languages; Tessa Potter and Matt DePari in special education; Mikayla Gadoury and Cullen Chapron, in technical education; Kate Hathaway and Alex Meiniel in visual arts; Karley Durning and Kyle McGuire in physical education and Alyssa Mathews and Patrick McMahon for Graduation by Proficiency.