Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club Names Fazio, Menke and Harrison Students Of The Month

ALTON - Lillian Fazio of Alton High School, Jeremiah Harrison of Alton High School, and Noah Menke of Marquette Catholic High School were honored as Students of the month for March 2026 at a regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Alton-Godfrey at the Gentelin’s on Broadway Restaurant.

Lillian Fazio, a senior at Alton High School, was recognized as the March Student of the Month by the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club. During the recognition, Fazio expressed gratitude to her teachers, family, and mentors who supported her throughout her high school career, including teacher Kelsie Davison, whom she credited with having a significant influence on her academic and personal growth. She also thanked her parents, Kristy and Henry Bush, for their encouragement and support.

Fazio has maintained a 4.143 GPA while completing a rigorous academic schedule that includes six Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses, six honors classes, and two dual-credit courses. She is also dual enrolled with Lewis and Clark Community College and expects to earn certification as a nursing assistant before graduating.

Much of Fazio’s high school experience has centered around leadership and service through Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). She first joined the organization as a freshman and was later elected Community Service Officer in 2023, where she helped organize service projects such as clothing drives and meals for people experiencing homelessness. The following year, she served as Public Relations Officer and a Section 8 Officer while competing in FCCLA’s Chapter in Review Portfolio project. Her work advanced to the national level in Seattle, where she earned a silver medal and placed 11th in the nation.

In 2025, Fazio served as president of the Alton High School FCCLA chapter and again competed nationally in Orlando, earning a gold medal despite competing in a more advanced category. She was also elected a state officer for Illinois FCCLA, a role that allowed her to collaborate with student leaders across the state, participate in discussions at the Illinois Capitol, help lead a leadership conference at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and assist in organizing the Illinois State Leadership Conference in Springfield.
This year, Fazio is also competing in a sports nutrition project that focuses on researching athlete diets and developing balanced meal plans to improve athletic performance. Outside of FCCLA, Fazio was a concert orchestra violist, a member of Student Council, and is currently a member of the National Technical Honor Society.

Her involvement has also included extensive community service, such as organizing food drives, helping run a charity fashion show and 5K fundraiser for people experiencing homelessness, preparing meals for the Salvation Army, and supporting the Ronald McDonald House Charities. She has also tutored younger students and volunteered with Alton Pride to support LGBTQIA+ youth.

After graduation, Fazio plans to attend Illinois College to major in nursing and minor in behavioral health while pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She hopes to eventually return to the community to work as a nurse and continue serving others.

Noah Menke is the son of Steve and Kim Menke. At Marquette, he has achieved a 4.67 GPA, 24 college dual credit hours, and 145 hours of community service. A four-year member of the High Honor Roll, Noah has consistently challenged himself academically while balancing a demanding extracurricular schedule.

Menke has been involved in student life at Marquette Catholic as a member of the National Honor Society (NHS) and the Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Club, while also serving as a Student Ambassador. Athletically, Noah has competed in Golf for two years, Football for two years, and Basketball for four years. Noah served as team captain for both football and basketball. During his Senior year, Noah was named Tucker’s Automotive Male Athlete of the Month for January.

He credits MCHS for preparing him academically for college and providing opportunities for him to grow in his faith. While at Marquette, Noah served Mass and led the school in First Friday Rosary. He is not afraid to live his faith outside of school. Noah is an usher for St. Mary’s Church in Alton, IL as well as volunteering for basketball and volleyball games at OLQP in Bethalto.

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Noah plans to attend Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where he has received the Cougar Pride Scholarship, to major in Accounting.

Jeremiah would like to first thank the Rotary Club for this honor and this award. Jeremiah would also like to thank his mom for, without her, he would not have made half the smart decisions he has. He would also like to thank his little brother, for he has taught him the value of patience.

When Jeremiah first came to high school in 2022, he did not yet know what to do with his life. He was not sure what high school held in store for him and how to adapt from the environment of middle school to that of high school. The teachers that helped him adapt the most were his biology honors teacher, Mrs. Laaker, his JROTC instructors, SMSGT Rosenbeck, Major Catalano, and Ret Master SGT Orlando Solomon, and his band teacher, Blake Korte. Unlike many of his teachers who went easy on the freshman, Mrs. Laaker had no such qualms. She pushed him hard and held us to high standards academically. Even though he did not like it at the time, Jeremiah grew to appreciate how she helped set us up for success through my high school experience.

With his JROTC instructors, they helped him develop self-discipline and confidence with the use of the uniform. They instilled in him the core values of the program; integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. With these skills, he was made flight commander of his freshman class and given the American veterans award and medal at the end of the year. Finally, Jeremiah’s band teacher, Korte held us to high standards in his instrument skill and performance. In the marching band and freshman band, he constantly refused to go easy on him. His attention to detail enhanced Jeremiah’s, and he successfully auditioned from the freshman band into the Wind Ensemble, the highest band the school had to offer.

With the preparation of freshman year, Jeremiah came prepared for Sophomore year. His next challenge class was honors Chemistry. The class proved to be a unique experience. The teacher, Mr Raffealle, had a very engaging teaching style. He was no slouch when it came to the grading process though. It was a fun, challenging class. In JROTC, Jeremiah began the study of cultures around the world with the class. In order to give them more perspective of the world around us, instructor Rosenbeck would bring snacks from around the world. Also, to further enhance our experience, she would also tell them stories about various cultures she experienced in her time in the service. During Band camp that summer, we started on our next show titled Fallout. The show was a major success. They won many high rankings and even made it to the Bands of America competition, where we got the highest score in the school’s history. Jeremiah’s major challenge during that year was Wind Ensemble. The successes in the marching band only increased his band teacher’s level of attention to our playing. We were held to high levels and performed as such. At Solo and Ensemble, he performed in a Horn Quartet and received the highest score.

It would be his junior year that would be most impactful on my education though. Jeremiah decided to take AP Physics that year. That class would prove to be his most difficult class yet. That class would push him like no other class and the teacher, Mr Spainhour, pushed them harder. He pressed him to think outside the box and to always question everything around us. That class gave Jeremiah an appreciation for teaching styles. In the hands of Mr Spainhour, the class became his most difficult, but yet my favorite class. The same year, I took Honors History. Taking this class helped me realize his passion for history. He thoroughly enjoyed the lessons and enjoyed doing research on historical events. With the Wind Ensemble, he auditioned for the Bi State music festival and made it in. Jeremiah also played a solo for Solo and Ensemble and got the highest score with minimum criticism.

His senior year has been a pretty easy one. His biggest challenge so far has been AP English. Jeremiah’s teacher, Mrs. Nemec, was a contrast to the other English teachers he had so far. She taught him to pay attention to all aspects of the reading and writing world. Whether it be the theme or the literary theory behind it, she taught him to not let anything escape his grasp. In JROTC, he moved away from the curriculum and to planning events for the program. It began a little rough but as the year progressed, he planned and executed several events.

One of the groups that had the biggest effect on Jeremiah was JROTC. Even from freshman year, he took leadership positions within the corp. He became the flight commander of his freshman flight and made sure he was an example to my fellow corpmen. He demonstrated such effective leadership that his senior instructor entrusted him with the position of head PTL during his freshman year. At first, it was a little roughgoing, but eventually he could churn out workouts for weeks ahead. Since he had such an excellent performance in my freshman year, Jeremiah was awarded the American Veterans Award and medal. After freshman year, he desired to become more involved in the program.

Jeremiah joined all the teams in my sophomore year and became an integral part of each. He became reliable by doing each event. He also resumed my position as Head PTL. For the Saber team, he did saber arches at the middle school dances. For recruiting, he went to the middle school to advocate the program to the middle schoolers. Jeremiah did the school’s Green Team, taking out the recycling for the school. He became a part of the program’s first Color Guard competition. He spent countless hours rehearsing and practicing synchronized movements. When the team got to the competition, they were ready. Even though they didn’t win, it gave valuable insight into their competition. After that, the Sabers did their biggest event of the year, the Sunset Ceremony. Even after the school year, he did a Color Guard event for Killion Day at Killion park. For his achievements, he was chosen to represent the program at a leadership conference at Mascoutah for all the surrounding AFJROTC programs.

For his junior year, he wanted to become more involved in not just the program’s team, but the program’s rankings. At first he applied to the Services Squadron Commander position since he was familiar with the functions of each team. It was accepted and he moved up from Senior Airman to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He had to schedule monthly meetings to make sure that all the teams were progressing and getting events done in an orderly fashion. He excelled in this position but he was unsatisfied. Jeremiah wanted to become a bigger influence in the program. At the end of first semester, he applied to the top 4 positions which included the Group Commander, Deputy Group Commander, First Sergeant, and Master Sergeant. In the 2nd semester of his junior year, Jeremiah became the program’s 1st Sergeant. That year the program would face its first inspection by the Air Force. The Top 4 had to give a briefing to the inspector complete with a slideshow. They also had to give a Color Guard presentation to him, which he also was a part of. The program spent months in preparation for the inspection and when the day finally came, they were ready. Not only did we pass the inspection, Jeremiah got the Cadet of the year award and medal.

His senior year is the year when I pushed my leadership skills to the max. He moved to the position of Deputy Group Commander and the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Jeremiah used this position to drive the senior class into action. Jeremiah coordinated the community service project known as Project Frosty in which the program paired with the Salvation Army. They had to start food and clothes drives with multiple local churches, businesses, and schools. They used these to create kits for the unhoused population in Alton. They then hosted a dinner where we handed out these kits. They then launched the first fundraiser of the year, which was a massive success. They then launched our 2nd fundraiser, which was an even bigger success than the last one. Right now, Jeremiah is preparing with the Color Guard Team for their competition which is to take place on March 28th.

After school, Jeremiah plans to go to Illinois State University in order to get a Doctorate in Teaching History. Since he is currently practicing French, he also plans to study abroad in order to learn more about French culture.

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