Sara Maldonado is one of those students who just likes school.

“I like the fact that I can be with my friends every day,” the Kingsburg girl says.

But that’s not why this straight-A student has her sights on a career as a school psychologist or teacher. “When I was little, in the third grade, I was attacked by a dog,” Sara says. “I remember the school psychologist helped me by talking about it.”

Teaching, she adds, “looks like fun with all those ideas you can give to kids.”

In nominating Sara as an Academic All-Star, fourth-grade teacher Alicia Raygosa praised her former student as an example for the class. “Sara was an inspiration to many students and rose to meet many challenges,” Raygosa said. “She was always willing to help out students who were struggling or needed a little encouragement.”

Reading and language arts are among Sara’s favorite subjects, and last year she helped start a mother-daughter reading club at Reagan Elementary. Outside of the classroom, she’s active in the Girl Scouts and after-school softball, where she pitches and plays shortstop and second base.

“She’s one of those kids, when you hear her name it just makes you smile,” Reagan Elementary Principal Melanie Sembritzki said.

Among the academic awards she’s received, Sara prizes her perfect attendance award from second grade, and book club and straight-A trophies from fourth grade. “It was really hard to get straight A’s last year,” she says.