Excitement buzzes in the air as students awaited the awards ceremony that took place on May 28, during block 7, in the Walton Center. The annual high school awards are well-kept secrets from scholars until the moment when scholars’ names are announced, leaving everyone on the edges of their seats. In the end, scholars receiving recognition were applauded by their peers and administration, leaving them with an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment, a testament to their hard work.
“I received two awards; I got a drama apartment award and principal’s honor roll,” expressed Chantal Velasquez (‘25). “Many people say junior year is hard… and really complicated, so to receive an award for this academic year after [taking] many AP classes, I am very proud of [myself], and my parents are proud of me too.”
The annual high school award ceremony is held at the end of the academic school year. It is made to honor and acknowledge the accomplishments of those who have earned it. Students are able to receive awards in several categories such as departmental recognitions , perfect attendance, principal’s honor roll and high honor roll.
In addition to this, each teacher is offered the chance to hand pick students that they believe have stood out in their class throughout the course of the school year. This is true for all core classes and electives such as music and art and even P.E. This is called the Departmental Award.
Teachers choose around 1 to 2 scholars per class they teach, each teacher has different criteria for how they select their students they want to nominate to receive an award.
“ I received high honor roll, English department award, social studies award. I felt decent and my work throughout the year has varied as I put more effort in some classes more than others. I plan on improving myself in the future next school year by participating more and putting more effort in all my classes,” expresses Eldana Woldai (‘27).
At the awards ceremony, subject teachers read out their department’s awards.
While the rest of Preuss has their awards dates separate from high school, they too are acknowledged and have an awards ceremony as well. The middle school awards take place on Friday, June 14, during block 4 (advisory block). 8th grade awards are going to be combined with the Eighth Grade Exhibitions and celebration of learning, which will be held at 11:00am in the Walton Center on the last day of school. Lastly, Senior Awards for graduating 12th graders were held Thursday June 6, in the Walton Center after school.
Unlike middle school, high school awards and senior awards are a big deal because they highlight a student’s academic achievement, and hold more importance because high school scholars can include these acknowledgments on their resumes to showcase their accomplishments when applying for college. Colleges take these awards into consideration; the more students have the more they become a competitive applicant to the university.
As the Student Support Services team at Preuss is the group in charge of coordinating end of the year award ceremonies such as this one, it is up to them to reach out to teachers or the registrar to figure out which students qualify for the awards given. After the collaboration, the counselors and the College and Workforce coordinator, Ms. Bandy, all worked together to print out all of the awards.
Overall, a great number of students were acknowledged for their various skills and deserving work this year. Students are immensely encouraged to continue to keep up with their hard work and strive to push themselves to their fullest potential everyday.
