This year’s awards banquet was very exciting for many people that received awards for their class or Seniors that won scholarships to help pay for their college tuition. For scholarships, Rachel Bax (12) and Caley Kramer (12) both won the big Schwartz Scholarships for $25,000. But, some awards felt less noticed such as class awards. For freshman, it is a big deal to win an award your first year in high school. Sam Neuner (9) won the Algebra I award in Mrs. Kesel’s Algebra  1 class. To find out more about his experience, I caught up with him.

                I first asked him, “How does it feel to get a medal your freshman year of High School?” He replied, “It feels great to accomplish this my first year of high school.” “I received this medal because I had the highest grade in the class,” he responded. I then asked him, “What is your grade in the class?” “A 96%,” He replied. He also said that Algebra was one of his favorite classes. I finally asked him, “Do you think you deserve the medal?” He thought for a minute and then said, “I think so because I do all of my homework, study hard for all my tests and work hard to make A’s in the class.”

                The awards banquet reminds us all that hard work does pay off in the end of the year. The people that work the hardest and put their noses to the grindstone get rewarded with an award for all the effort they put forth in the class.