Three Eagan High School Students Receive Student of the Month

Eagan Rotary Club Contact: Dick Fuller (651-253-4953) cell
Eagan Rotary Club President: Andy Lucking (651-272-3511)

Three Eagan High School Students Receive Fall 2023 Student of the Month
Based on Rotary values of truth and caring for the community, teachers and counselors selected for September-OlmaWakjira, for October- Omer Mitha, and for November- Julia Koudelka.

Three Eagan High School students, Olma Wakjira, Omer Mitha, and Julia Koudelka, were honored at an in-personRotary meeting as Students of the Month for September through November, 2023. They were selected by counselors and teachers for their leadership, service, and community volunteer efforts.
“At each meeting, Rotarians recite the club’s basic tenets of truth, fairness and acting for the greater good,” said Mimi Palen-Clare, president of Executive Growth Advisors and chair of Student of the Month committee. “We recognizethese students as outstanding examples of those values.”

Olma is currently a member of the National Honor Society, Co-captain of the Speech team, and President of the Black Student Union (or BSU). Last year, as a member of the Speech team, Olma won 3rd place in the state in the poetry category. This year, as President of the BSU, Olma is leading plans for a culture night to celebrate diversity and will be showcasing 5 different countries. This is the first time in about 15 years a celebration such as this has taken place at the high school.

Olma is a youth group leader at his church and loves working with elementary students to create a tightly knit group of young people. He is also involved with Feed My Starving Children.

For college, Olma is interested in getting a degree in Computer Science.

Omer is currently a board member of Interact club, where he plays a role in planning events and activities for the club.
He is also a National Honor Society Officer, and in his role, focuses on creating school spirit events among other things.

Omer is a member of the Robotics team, a mentor for younger team members, and involved in community events. He was instrumental in restarting the Ski and Snowboard Club as co-president. This was after the club had been inactive for several years.

As a volunteer at M Health Fairview, Omer greets patients in the emergency department and delivers goods throughout the hospital.
In addition, he volunteers as a Sunday school teacher at South Metro Islamic Center and is a food shelf volunteer.

Omer plans to attend University of MN where he will study Human Physiology on the Pre-Med track.


For 3 years, Julia has been involved with the peer tutoring service. Her book club has an annual drive donating 1827 books last year. And they have the resources to provide books to kids who cannot afford them. Speaking of books, Julia was also a volunteer with the Dakota County Library system as part of their teenage advocacy group, doing projects around the library to improve peoples’ experiences.

Julia is a member of the National Honor Society and World Languages Honors Society. Other extra curricularsinclude captain of the Debate team, a member of the Speech team, and member of the Board Game Club!

After graduation, Julia plans to attend college.

The Rotary Club of Eagan was founded in 1987 and is affiliated with Rotary International. The club has 60members. The current Rotary Club of Eagan President, Andy Lucking, is a financial planner with NorthStar Financial Partners. The Rotary motto is “Service above Self” and guided by the Rotary Four Way Test. Details can be found at eaganrotary.org.
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Cutline: Rotary Club of Eagan distributed the fall 2023 Student of the Month Awards to Eagan High School Students. From left, September-Olma Wakjira, for October- Omer Mitha, and for November- Julia Koudelka and Rotarian Mimi Palen-Clare, program chair. Students were recognized for successes in academics, sports and the arts and the Rotary character traits of honesty and respect for others through their volunteer activities.