By Harper Timberlake
Families are invited to celebrate with all students and teachers for this year's SHS Academic Awards ceremonies. On April 30, senior recipients will be recognized at 9:55 am while juniors will be recognized at 1:15 pm. The sophomore class ceremony will be May 2 at 1:15 p.m., and the freshmen class ceremony will be held at 9:55 a.m. on May 2.
Each ceremony will last approximately 30 minutes. All students for each grade will attend the ceremony. Students can get academic letters or plaques, honor roll certificates and outstanding students awards from teachers. Students earn academic letters by having a GPA of 3.5 or higher for two semesters or more.
The ceremonies will be in the main gym, and visitors can enter through the lobby doors at the main entrance of SHS. Family members and guests must sign-in at the main office before attending the ceremony. For those who aren’t able to attend, it will be live streamed by SLNN on their channel.
The academic awards program is planned by SHS English teacher Nicole Purlee. She has been part of the program for 11 years but said teachers Lisa Gardner and Jeanne Bedwell were previously in charge of the program, which has been going on for more than 20 years. National Honor Society members have also helped organize the event in previous years.
“This is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the academic successes of our students every year," said Purlee.
The program has been planned with the help of Maegan Gamble, Jennifer Martin and the office staff. Gamble helps type and print all of the certificates for the students’ awards. There are more than 600 certificates being awarded this year.
Purlee is grateful for Principal Troy Albert, Superintendent Jill Mires and the school board for having the ceremonies every year for the students, as well as all the teachers who submitted outstanding student names for their classes. With their support, the program is able to continue.