Hacker students earn chance to be fire, police chiefs for a day

Police Chief Nick Schilz chats with Preston Nowak, his "replacement" for one day last week.

Two students from Hacker Middle School earned a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become city leaders for a day.

Last Wednesday, Preston Nowak was selected as the Mountain Home's honorary police chief while Juana Gomez-Solis became the city's honorary fire chief.

The honorary city leader program was hosted by the Mountain Home Elk's Lodge. Both students were among 10 under consideration by the five-person selection committee for this distinction.

Juana Gomez-Solis is sworn in as the city's temporary fire chief by city clerk Nina Patterson as Mountain Home Fire Chief Alan Bermensolo and Mayor Tom Rist look on.

"It's pretty cool since it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a firefighter," said Gomez-Solis as she sported a badge and uniform. "I hope to have fun and to do a good job."

"I don't exactly want to arrest people, but I hope to have fun," said Nowak, who admitted to city police chief Nick Schilz that he was a little nervous about his new duties.

Geared for those in fourth to eighth grade, teachers at each of the local elementary schools and the middle school evaluated their students in throughout the year and submitted their nominations to the local Elk's Lodge.

To qualify, students needed to maintain good grades while going "above and beyond in and out of the classroom," said Elks spokesperson Cristena Ford. Those selected are also active participants in the local community.

While the parents are notified well in advance regarding their children's selections for the program, details are kept close hole until the actual date of the honorary chief program approaches.

Gomez-Solis overheard people talking about the program back in March, "but I had no idea what they were talking about," she said.

Nowak, on the other hand, was caught completely off guard when his name was read off during the Elks Lodge youth banquet on May 6.

"I seriously thought that they called the wrong kid," he said.

Gomez-Solis was identified by her sixth-grade teacher, Jessica Muilenburg, as a "fantastic student" that earns straight As in all of her academic subjects. Her academic achievements recently earned her the opportunity to enroll in the school's gifted and talented program.

"At school she is always one of the first ones done with her assignments and moves around the classroom to assist other students who are struggling to finish their assignment," Muilenburg said. "Juana has asked numerous times for additional tasks to assist inside and out of the classroom just to be helpful (asking) nothing in return."

Outside of school, she spends most of her free time at home due to family responsibilities, which includes caring for the family's animals and her younger sister.

"Juana is a brilliant student who will go extremely far with her education and willingness to assist others," Muilenburg said.

Meanwhile Shelly Rose considered Nowak a quiet, well-manned student that excels at everything he does with his fifth-grade classmates.

"He has a great sense of humor and is able to laugh at himself," Rose said. "He is concerned about others and is always willing to help."

Outside of school, Nowak enjoys a variety of activities, including reading, sports, collecting rocks, playing the guitar and tinkering with Legos. He also earned the title of honorary Girl Scout due to the amount of work he invests to help his sister's troop.

In addition to traveling around the city to see firsthand the day-to-day routine of the local police and fire departments, both students had earned another benefit: Both of them were excused from doing homework that evening.

Nowak's mother, Feona, joked that his teacher had an ulterior motive for excusing him from his homework assignment.

"She excused him from homework for the day because she didn't want to be arrested by Preston," she said.