And the award goes to…
April 19, 2018
By ALYSSA SCHROECKENTHALER
The Mirror reporter
There are many students at SPASH who work hard in school every day. Maintaining a high GPA is challenging, but there are many students who’ve achieved this. The purpose of Academic Awards Night is to recognize those students who have achieved academically at a high level.
This year, the program will take place on Monday, April 30 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the SPASH auditorium.
The Academic Awards program was initiated by the SPASH Student Senate. The first one took place during the 1998-1999 school year.
There are two types of awards, Academic Awards and Department Students of the Year. Academic Awards are given to the students who have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or higher at the semester. If a student receives an academic award all four years of high school, they receive the Gold Academic Cup their senior year.
Senior Joey Kwong is one of the students receiving the cup this year. “It feels so rewarding to see that my hard work over the past four years has actually paid off,” Kwong said.
Department Students of the Year are those the faculty feel deserve recognition for their outstanding achievements in that area. The teachers of that department discuss and vote on this decision.
Students who are receiving awards were sent a letter of invitation to this event. Their families are invited to attend as well.
Anyone who cannot come will be able to pick up their awards later in the school’s main office.
“The things I remember the most are when students really work hard to get something,” SPASH principal Jon Vollendorf said. “For instance, a couple years ago we had a student who so badly wanted to be a valedictorian that the last semester of their senior year they went and signed up for four AP classes because they are weighted. They knew that if they could get a really good grade in each of those AP classes, that it would move their GPA and they did it and they made valedictorian.”
Kara • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:47 PM
I really like that we have an awards night because the kids who work very hard deserve it! Great job explaining what it is and how kids are able to receive it! One of my friends got the golden cup her senior year and afterwards went to belts and got it filled with ice cream!
Will • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:46 PM
This is a great article, but I feel like ceremonies like this help push the harmful idea that the only thing that matters is the academic success. I know a lot of kids who make themselves miserable and let other parts of their personality lack just so they can get that perfect GPA and look good on paper.
Dylan Konicek • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:39 PM
I really enjoyed reading about this and I thought it was cool that you got to interview one of the winners and got their input about awards night.
Manuel Lupercio • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:37 PM
I love the academic awards night as it honors multiple students for various things. Im glad i wll be helping run this years and cant wait to see all my fellow class mates and other spash students get recognized
Kacey Koch • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:21 PM
It’s amazing that students are able to get recognized for their great academic achievement! I loved the quote from Mr. Vollendorf! I thought that was a really awesome story.
Hannah Gibbons • Apr 23, 2018 at 10:10 AM
I’m happy you wrote a piece on the awards night, because it gives a reason for students to work hard. It’s really nice to see the school dedicate a whole night to students who are academically motivated to go above and beyond. I also liked your quote from Mr. Vollendorf, it makes me happy to see he supports this night.
Alina Burmistrova • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:53 PM
I like there is Academic Awards Night event at SPASH. Because those students, who worked hard whole school year and did everything to achieve high score, must get that they deserve.
Tony Ludwig • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:48 PM
I won a “polyglot” award a few years ago for studying multiple languages, the award show is very interesting!
Hannah Siegel • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:38 PM
I like that they do these awards. I think its a great way to recognize students for their hard work and achievements. I was wondering how many students usually receive the awards?
Dylan Trigg • Apr 20, 2018 at 12:28 PM
These awards are so good because they give people a reason to work hard.