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McAnally named Student of the Month Friday Jan 27, 2017 at 7:55 PM Jan 27, 2017 at 7:55 PM Local report The Rotary Club of Ashland awarded its Student of the Month award for January to Ben McAnally, a senior at St Mary's School, at its meeting on Jan. 19. McAnally is the St. Mary's student body president. He is a National Merit finalist, and is in the running for valedictorian. He is a team captain for both cross country and track and is also active on the math team, mock trial team, Model UN team and is a leader of the Community Service Club. "Ben sees a need, serves it and then goes a step beyond," said Leslie Klean, St. Mary's Director of College Counseling. "For instance, Ben went on a service trip to Uganda the summer before his freshman year. When he returned he became a co-leader of the Global Village Club in order to raise awareness and funds to sponsor students in Gulu, Uganda." In 2015, McAnally had the opportunity to help teach a U.S. citizenship class. In addition to helping teach English proficiency and U.S. citizenship preparation each week, he started additional classes at Kids Unlimited Academy where he mentors a student. He will participate in an exchange with a school in Argentina in the spring. Over the summer, McAnally worked at Ashland Automotive and presented a novel he'd written to agents and editors at the Willamette Writers' Conference.