001e e e one [Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen thank you all for coming it's just like starting class but I appreciate your attention uh good evening everybody uh my name is Kelly Hammer I'm director dtor of Student Activities here at e high school and I would like to welcome all of you to the 2024 activity Awards night um it is great to have you all here uh we have over 40 different clubs and activities here at the high school uh and literally every day almost every day in the last three weeks I've had a student um or a teacher come and say hey how about this what if we move into this space can we grow into that space um and so I can say that our clubs are alive and thriving and doing
002well and so much of that uh credit is due to the students who are sitting in the room um I would like to welcome you all tonight I would like to say um that I'm incredibly grateful for all of the attendees that we have our family and our friends who have joined us the advisers who are here to uh send your Praises um Dr bogus our assistant superintendent is here with us tonight con every there we go uh I have Mrs Lenahan our vice principal is here with us tonight um I saw Mr Miller who's our vice president of the board of education is with us tonight um and I don't know if I have any other members who are in the room but I do want to say how much I appreciate the support
003that our Administration central office and the board has always always given our clubs and activities anything that we need any support that we have to have uh they never hesitate and they are always there and they're part of the reason we are as successful as we are uh so what I would like to do tonight is just uh one at a time our advisers are going to come up uh what we've done tonight you can look at your uh little program there uh you'll see that we have uh the Awards this year broken down by category we've organized them by performance competition programs then the writing and design category then the school service category and finally those that fall under a special interest heading um please at any time uh one of my parents was
004was polite enough to be like are the are the desserts for before or after and I was a little taken a back cuz I thought I think think it's both I think it's during I think it's at all times uh so please if you need a drink help yourselves water uh Capri Suns come on uh there's uh a beautiful display that was put together by uh Mr uh kinsky who is here tonight I think he's here tonight yep um and his culinary two kids uh who have outdone themselves uh so please enjoy uh so you can uh prove me right uh what we would like to do is we would like to start though the evening with the presentation of our first award um one of our recipients uh Lauren Nelson who is a member
005of the bellav which is one of our choir competitions is not going to be with us tonight you talking about it okay so we will present that award to her uh so what we'll be doing is we'll move to our next Award of the evening our first to present uh is uh for color guard [Music] all right so our colard award is going to Madison back please I I always mess it up all right I was not prepared to go first but here we go uh so fun fact about Maddie she has actually been involved in the color guard program here longer than I have she has been a member for all four years I joined after that and you know of the time that I've been uh with the color guard Maddie has been
006one of the most dedicated members to the program always coming to rehearsal always coming ready to go being prepared running off the votc bus to come find us wherever we happen to be rehearsing that day coming in grabbing a flag picking up right where we have left off always working with our new members making sure that they know what's going on helping them with their technique choreographing our stand Dances all by herself this year which was absolutely amazing those dances absolutely Rock uh keeping me on on time and on top of our schedule and just an allaround amazing incredible human being who I'm going to miss so much did I mention that she had to Wrangle all freshman it was her me and then all freshman so it's an incredible wonderful human being Hi how
007are you guys good evening welcome colleagues friends family my name is Dawn stok and I am the advisor for the dance team and tonight I wanted to take a moment to make a cont and thanks for young student tonight I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation for the outstanding job this individual did this school year as an Elite member of the blue flames dance team although performances were minimal on the floor at practices this individual worked hard and dedicated himself to the dance beyond anything you could imagine his contributions to the choreography of the team's Last Dance was both Innovative and graceful I'm so grateful to have had him step up into leadership role even when he didn't really want to do it at first his nerves got the best of
008him but when he got behind it he was a he was a and we all listen to everything that he taught us along the way your support and encouragement and willingness to lend an ear to any of the dancers who were challenged during some of the downtimes was beyond anything we could imagine you definitely Rose the occasion although you're still going to be here next year we salute you this year and then again next year and that's none other than Isaiah fernandz [Applause] hi everybody all right this award is for drama club and this was my first year in drama club so I'm very excited to get this award um this is for Alia Alia I first met Alia when she was a sophmore in my English to honors class my first year at Ying
009high school and we were just coming back from virtual learning and things were a little bit rough and most of my classes were really really quiet um and Al was the only student that would participate and answer my questions so we solidified our bond that year um she helped shape the trajectory of that class and always stayed true to herself and she did that in drama club as well I had the privilege of having her as president of the drama club this year um as a new adviser this year I relied heavily on students to assist me with meetings activities and events and alayia went above and beyond to guide students in club procedures and took charge whenever necessary which was quite a bit she approached drama club with passion and determination and her presence
010was frequent appreciated and frankly needed I couldn't have done it without her she rallied students when they needed motivation or encouragement she took charge when students were distracted or off task and elious absence from drama club will be felt by myself and the rest of the club and we will miss her deal I'm going to go in this next award is for the international lesbiian society which is an Honor Society for theater students this is for Vicki Sanchez so Vicki Sanchez is a student that I didn't have the P privilege of knowing until this year because of my new role as international thespian Society adviser Vicki is the perfect example of someone who is always there for others in international thespian Society we go to a festival where students perform and compete with others and
011it's usually a very nerve-wracking experience for all involved and Vicki asked to go solely to support and experience um the event with her classmates um she supported her peers there she was there to cheer them on Comfort them and focus on their performances throughout the school year Vicki found happiness exploring theater and assisted those around her in making incredible art often students who work behind the scenes get over looked but Vicki deserves praise and appreciation for being exactly who she is she exemplifies what being a thespian truly means appreciation and practice of the Theater Arts with joy diligence and compassion the festival and all it events will not be the same without her next up is [Applause] Jack good evening everyone my name is Jason price I'm the director of bands here at Ying High
012um for our ja uh for our jazz band award the Jazz Band award is given to a student uh musician who demonstrates a passion for learning and growing as a musician within the Jazz idium uh they must also demonstrate a sense of commitment to The Ensemble and their bandmates this year I'm honored to give this award to Mr Frank Romanowski Frank Frank has been a member of the Jasmine for the uh three years that I have been here at the high school so your sophomore Junior and Senior year uh and during this time a Frank has shown a strong commitment to grow as a jazz trumpet player always showing up having his music learned ready to help his section to better themselves and ready to help the band as a whole sound their best Frank
013was always ready to take on whatever the next challenge was that I threw at the band and always did so with a positive attitude on behalf of the rest of the Jazz Band we thank you for your hard work dedication and passion towards our Ensemble thank you don't um the next word uh I'm also presenting is for our marching band uh uh this award will go to Lauren Nelson who she couldn't be here this evening but I'm I'll say what I had prepared for her the marching B award goes to a student that consistently demonstrates commitment leadership and passion for the marching B this year I am very proud and honored to give this award to Miss Lauren Nelson Lauren has held the POS position uh as one of our drum Majors which is a
014top leadership position within the band and has also led her with her musicianship skills being a very talented flu player Lauren's passion for music has been a source of inspiration for her bandmates and myself and I'm very excited to share that she will be continuing her musical journey in college where she will study music therapy uh for me and from the rest of the band we thank you for your hard work dedication and passion congratulations Lauren next up I'm Mr M hello everybody my name is Mr Minter I am the director of choirs here at y High School if you don't know me although I see a lot of familiar faces out there today so the first award is for the master singers the Master singers are comprised of an incredible group of musicians in
015grades 9 through 12 as an auditioned group they perform in the public space specializing in a genre of Pop Acappella music however if you know me and if you know this group you know that they've undergone a pretty massive change over the past four years in terms of their musical identity um and much like students in high school uh this group was kind of discovering its identity and how it fit into our Coral program luckily I've had many students uh who have helped find and cultivate that Journey along the way specifically one student who has stood by my side and this group's side as we have uncovered this journey together is [Music] Alicia I Ed it this award tonight is presented to a student who has stood tall by my side as we have uncovered
016our version of Master singers one might Des describe them as a little bossy sometimes kind of needy and maybe demanding at times um but I think what they mean to say is assertive goal oriented and determined determined to help cultivate and grow a program of high quality music making I think that she has achieved so many of those goals while here at y High School and singing with the master singers so thank you Alia for being a little bossy and helping keeping the choir program moving forward being a little needy and reminding me that maybe sometimes I am an teacher and also lastly being demanding and helping everybody around you rise to the their Highest Potential so thank you [Applause] [Music] El unfortunately you have to listen to me talk again our next award is
017for musical performance specifically as it relates to the musical this year between the lons um those of you who don't know I took over as director for for the musical this year and it was quite a crazy undertaking um so first off Jordan remember that time about 40 minutes ago when you came into the choir room and you were like why are you still here yeah I was writing the speech so here it goes I am so great ful for your Artistry and musicianship I will never forget the first audition sitting there and thinking wow there is something there there is something really special in this girl and uh I had no idea where that Journey would take us first AA the first true test a vocal beast and a and a character that was
018just so deep and such a challenge and you stepped into it with Grace and pride you took us on a journey that year and I will never forget it one of my favorite musicals of all time and you brought that character to life and then this year happened remember you came up to me beginning of the year after between the lines was announced you looked me dead in the eyes and you just started singing Crazy chemistry and I was like yeah that TRS and you were so determined you loved Ali McAndrews and you loved Princess sarapa and the comedy and the timing and the belting and it just grew and grew and grew there were times where you sat there and you doubted yourself and you looked me and you're like I just don't get
019it and you stepped in and you character researched and you developed that character into the True Villain wrapped in a bubbly little package I like to think that sometimes you try to emulate that in your daily life you push us all to rise to our own challenges and I know that you're going to go far so never forget do it for Bernard Bernard [Applause] [Music] and now for the technical side of our musical production I would like to invite up Vicki and [Applause] Juliana being a student leader is hard your peers look at you is just that peers Vicky and Jules the technical Theater award was always meant to be for the two of you it is very fitting that you two split this award because you were the ones who carried the weight of
020this show on your back when I approached the two of you I came with a warning I said this year is going to be hard and I gave you the opportunity to back out I said it's okay I totally get it I won't be offended and you were like no no we're going to do this but I'm not sure that you quite knew how challenging it was was going to be oh what a challenge it was Les we forget pretty much everything to do with this set whether it was painting the set the day of the show it felt like or you know pieces of the set falling apart or the projector just turning off whenever it really wanted to on its own the countless hours spent sitting after a rehearsal with me going why
021doesn't the cast get it am I doing something wrong am I pushing them too hard and the two of you would just be there to remind me we are on the right path and we are going to do this together you trusted me and look at what we were able to create together the two of you are destined for greatness I mean if you can deal with my Insanity for five months I'm pretty sure you can do anything so you guys will be just fine I promise and don't ever forget if it's hard that's okay anything worth doing is hard otherwise anyone would do it congratulations [Applause] you're welcome I think I'm done uh throughout the course of the evening there will be several awards that I will be be presenting uh there are a
022few advisers that we have that were not able to join us this evening um and the first uh presentation that I've been asked to do is on behalf of Miss gumml who is the adviser for the consumer Bowl award the New Jersey high school consumer bowl is an educational competition for high school students across the state it was established in 1997 to educate young adults on a variety of consumer issues such as credit card skimming for scam for scale what for sorry sorry I got it foreclosure scam I I can't even believe I got to read this foreclosure scam and even the proper way to fry your Thanksgiving turkey that seems like a con that but I don't know I don't know if Mrs I don't know if Mrs gumel just playing with me uh
023the students are tasked each year with studying over 20 different topics and then they compete against each other uh in different Mercer County Schools some of the topics remain the same over the years While others get added as new safety concerns come into view this award represents the hour spent studying for the competition along with the Positive leadership skills that these members have shown during their time with the team this year's consumer Bowl award goes to a senior who has been with the team for two years and has been a great teammate and leader for all of our members she's always willing to help her teammates to learn the new material and she always always wants everyone to succeed please join me in congratulating Ashley Tyson [Applause] I got [Applause] [Music] you so we are
024the robotics Club advisor uh we are happy to be presenting the robotics award tonight uh working with the robotics team has been quite an adjustment at least for me uh coming from a Lego background uh metal in screws are much more advanced than stacking a 2X two Lego on top of a 4x4 Lego uh the recipient of this award helped me helped guide me uh in my role by showing me around the shop how competitions work and even the construction of the robot uh this student was a huge part part of our competition team this year uh through being our technician for the drive team building the robot and designing the robot she was able to articulate concise but thorough descriptions to our robot and was a large part of our team winning uh an
025award which was the first since I had taken the role in the program uh big congratulations to the winner of the robotics award Morgan Talbert [Applause] good evening I am Sarah zahar uh advisor of the art Club this year's Art Club award goes to Christa Gonzalez uh Christa has been part of Art Club since her freshman year she's always been present at all of the meetings even this last week when after our field trip to grounds for sculpture everybody wanted to go home but Christa was like no I want to stay for our club um she's also been a part of a lot of our community service projects whether that's space painting um or working on School murals she has a great Dr mickeey Mouse at anti uh nurse's office if you ever have the
026chance to check it out when Christa is not working on her collaborative projects she is working on her projects from art two and art three this past year it has been a great pleasure of mine to watch you grow as an artist um from having you at an art one last year and as an art Club advisor um but best of yet we still have one more year together so it is my pleasure to award Christa Gonzalez for our club Activity [Applause] Award next up is play [Applause] [Music] Club hello everyone good evening I will be presenting this award tonight to Morgan Talbert come on [Applause] [Music] up good evening everyone my name is Miss Weber I'm the adviser of the Ying High School play Club this award is being presented to Morgan Morgan has
027been a dedicated member of our club since this beginning three years ago and became the vice president of our club this school year I've had the pleasure of having Morgan for both Ceramics one and second level course she consistently has proven herself as a dedicated student by going above and beyond project expectations this was shown by her recent piece being submitted to the merser county teen Art Festival this is also transferred into her after school activities with her dedication to our club she has shown responsibility and Leadership time and time again on many activities we are involved in she takes the lead on planning organizing and I knew I could count on her to be there to represent our club for after school events I really appreciate all of your hard work and you helped
028to make the uwing high school play Club what it is today I see a bright future ahead of you in life keep your efforts going and it will pay off for you best of luck and I feel fortunate to have been to have been able to work with you um with such a student such as yourself in in and out of the [Applause] classroom next up is frco [Applause] hi everyone so Bros is the artistic Club at yinghai and it produces an electronic magazine comprised of visual and written Expressions the club is an artistic expressions for students to harness the power of their of Art in their lives to allow our emotions experiences and enduring thoughts a powerful and positive outlet this year a senior stood out as an exceptional artist promoting the ideas of
029the club while also being the greatest contributor to the club Genesis Barrera genesis's creativity was a force driving the success of Fresco's magazine this year Genesis was dedicated to expressing herself honestly and thoughtfully in both written and visual artwork youing up here at times she was assertive at times vulnerable at times experimental but through it all Genesis was dedicated dedicated to the proliferation of our of the club but more importantly dedicated to the idea that art is regenerative art is revealing art is reflective to know Genesis is to know that she has put her heart into everything she creates Genesis is most deserving of this award because there is an integrity and vulnerability in her creative approach she encourages those around her to take this approach as well to share and express themselves through their
030art her positive attitude and enthusiasm for artistic expression helped Foster a space for her peers to be comfortable contributing to this magazine alongside her breast go has been better because of Genesis and as a senior we wish you the best wherever your heart leads you hi guys I'm Kelly Kennedy adviser of the newspaper Club um we often hear about the influence a teacher can have on a student's life the impact a teacher may have on the student but what is not discussed enough is the influence the student can have on the teacher how there are certain students who leave an everlasting impression on the instructor how the teacher will not only long remember the student but how our careers our passions our vocations are deepened and reinvigorated by the student Rebecca St FL is one
031of those [Music] students I had the privilege of meeting Rebecca her freshman year in a virtual journalism class a class that was very difficult to do online it was a first block class and I looked forward to it uh primarily because of Rebecca she was logged in every morning attentive and even through a screen I could tell she was actively absorbing the new information presented our relationship continued her sophomore year when we returned to school but did not return to normal Rebecca joined the newspaper Club in 10th Grade and would attend meetings and write articles for our paper even though so many students weren't ready to return to a club life and activities in a group environment over the last two years Rebecca has truly flourished as a student as a journalist as an agent
032in determining her successful life not only is she a four-year contributor to the club She's Been instrumental in advancing and promoting the newspaper by encouraging her peers to write articles and through the creation and maintenance of our social media presence Rebecca's articles follow in the great tradition of writing as advocacy using her voice to promote positive change in this world what is good writing if it's not providing a mirror for which society can truly examine itself Rebecca's writing follows the true Heritage of American newspapers as vehicles of change with articles such as the downfall of Reproductive Rights in America or climate change in action profit over morals Rebecca harnesses the power of the written word to emphasize the challenges facing society today her articles represent the best of what modern journalism can be well researched
033informative honest and dedicating to holding Americans to the highest intellectual and moral standards possible I'll miss Rebecca her determination her dedication her passion and especially her Bright Smile she's left an everlasting impression on our newspaper and on me as an educator we were honored to have her serve as editor-in chief of our newspaper and I wish her the best as she embarks on the next edition of her [Music] life next up yearbook I am the yearbook adviser uh here at Ying high school and the other day as I was kind of making sure everybody was uh in and ours we ping to this event um happened to see Daniel and I said um oh are you coming to the uh to the awards night on Wednesday night and he said oh to get the yearbook
034award yeah I'll be there now we don't normally reveal ahead of time who's getting the awards uh but listen when you know you know uh Daniel was one of three outstanding seniors Shannon L is in here tonight Rebecca St Flair is here tonight um and together the three of them um did everything possible to create this amazing manifestation that is this year's yearbook they drove the production and the development and the design uh Daniel worked in every space uh from page design to theme creation to editing and photography he imagined original and dynamic new layouts uh he was instrumental in getting the perspective of our students uh and translating their ideas uh and their experiences on the page for everyone to share he's considerate he's dedicated and he's thoughtful in his work he ensures that
035every student in every place in every space in the school is included and fully represented over these past two years I have seen his creativity and his design skills evolved to the point where I can look at La out now and say ah that one's David except it's Daniel at this point normally and I I really do this this is a little bit crushing for me at this point we would normally present the first edition of the annual yearbook to our award winner um the yearbooks will be in at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning um so no one's waiting um but uh instead I would ask all of you to please help me uh congratulate this year's recipient of the yearbook award Daniel AR good evening everyone I'm Miss Johnson and I have the honor to
036be the advisor for the black student Alliance AKA BSA for short that's a lot to say all the time um I had the pleasure of meeting this student two years him and his PE walked to my office and it was like can you be the advisor of the club didn't know what to say was a little taken it back but me and my colleagues we said sure why not and it's been an amazing ride ever since this student Dylan Roberts is an amazing student and he stood the test time amongst us FAL I think he was the only Gentleman on the board yeah you are and we gave him a run for his money we we made our voice with her but he made sure his was louder he supported us as we supported him
037and I want to wish him well and next up class 202 [Applause] hi I'm Samy aka Mr D I'm one of the class advisers for 2024 as the seniors ask me any question they generally know the answer that's a gum up just like this is a gumal thing ironically these are her words as well hopefully I can deliver them as eloquent as she the class advisor position is a difficult timec consuming job for any teacher in addition to their teaching responsibilities coaching duties Club activities teachers dedicate their time efforts to the planning and organizing of fundraising events hosting dances facilitating pep rallies and winning Powderpuff Champions three years in a row as class adviser Miss gumml and myself will not be as successful in this role if it weren't for the efforts of our students
038we would like to take this time to thank applaud and praise the efforts of one student in particular we cannot thank this student enough for her leading role in making the class of 2024 run as smoothly as it does she's always willing to help no matter the situation and ralles her friends to stay after school to help out she dedicates countless hours brainstorming implementing fundraising ideas making treats that are delicious packaging items organizing the student peper rys events and working the concession stand at sporting events she is one of our social media Specialists D and I both can't do that and she spread School spear for the class of 2024 she's an amazing student and any teacher that gets the pleasure of working with her knows how special and dedicated she is class of 2024
039would like to recognize and thank Jasmine Bell [Applause] good evening everyone my name is Sean Hammer I'm the adviser of the student council not the class of 2025 but Mrs Mell and Miss Turner could not be here tonight so it's uh Fallen upon me to give out the honors the recipient of this year's class of 2025 award is Sydney Gonzalez now I'm sure um MOSI and Turner wrote you a really nice speech I don't have it so I'm going to make some stuff up on the spot it's going to be wonderful all right um so when I think of of Sydney I think of school spirit and I think uh the biggest proof uh of what she contributed this year is the uh the fact that the Juniors won the spirit cup and went to
040Jordy Park um for years now uh Sydney's been a key member of the class Powderpuff team she's helped plan pep rally games as student council during the pep rally she usually is helping organize and run the squad I know she was instrumental in planning and decorating for the catian aka the Masquerade dance this year which was an Innovative uh version of that event and I am super excited to continue working with you next year when you'll be serving as uh one of our Board of Ed representatives and co-presidents of student council so congratulations Sydney get up to I'll hi I'm back uh as well as doing all things chorus uh me and all things drama myself and mol are also class advisers uh so today for our class of 20 26 recipi we'd like to
041call up nelli Le us so the the sophomore class here at Ying High School is a very driven very devoted very energetic group of students they bring a lot of excitement and energy to every pep rally and always standing at the Forefront is nelli she rallies her classmates gets them all involved whether that's through pep rally games whether that's reminding aggressively all sophomores to dress up for every Spirit day which might be why we win 90% of our spirit days she is at every single meeting she reminded me she only missed one meeting this year she attended more meetings than Mr Minter did um no surprises there and she always comes with new fresh ideas whether that's for fundraising or just getting her peers involved we are so excited and so grateful for Al and
042so excited to see what she does in the next couple [Applause] years hello again uh this evening Mr Rogers who is our Freshman Class adviser couldn't be with us but um he asked me uh to do the presentation for tonight uh so it is my pleasure to announce that the recipient of the activities award for the class of 2027 is Cen Jones as he walks up I'm just going to start to praise him uh Colin has consistently shown a remarkable ability to balance their classroom responsibilities with participation in a number of extracurricular activities throughout the school year uh is a member of the student council the unified Club culinary Club the Key Club the drama club and future teachers I see you Miller only freshman member uh he is also a member of our cheer
043teams uh and participates in our musical theater programs yet when the class is in need of student volunteers to assist with concessions for the boys basketball programs uh Not only was Colin the first to volunteer uh he is the one who took the lead uh at every game uh and made this fundraising effort for the class an incredible success no you did it you did it uh Colin on behalf of the y High School class of 2027 and on behalf of Mr Rogers we congratulate you on this well-deserved honor your dedication and commitment to our school is truly inspiring we are very proud of you and we are excited to see what you are going to do over the next three years uh and what your future here at un High holds for you thank
044you and congratulations Key Club yeah I got lost not that I don't have them I'm just gonna yeah no I just got to uh the next award is Key Club uh the Key Club adviser Mr Bley couldn't be with us this evening uh B he would like me to ask you to help celebrate please Juliana Medina [Music] over the past four years Jules Medina did a tremendous job inside and outside of the classroom she's always made valuable contributions to the AP US History Class that Mr Burley has taught and to the Key Club itself coming out of virtual learning uh we needed a lot of help in revolving our extracurricular spaces all of our advisers uh and many of our um student participants are aware of that um and service clubs in particular struggled in
045that effort to get people back into service spaces um but Jules was at the Forefront of this in a variety of different ways she was always very active with all of her Elementary School volunteer activities toy drives food drives and whatever was necessary to help the community some students forget to show up for events that they sign up for the Jews was always incredibly dependable and helpful at every event that we asked her to participate in thank you for everything that you have done for Key Club for the school for Mr Burley and we wish you the very best of luck next [Applause] year oh no I'm not next I I should have read the pro I wrote the program I should read the program I'm really sorry everybody uh the presentation for the National
046Honor Society award Mrs Hinson is unable to be with us tonight um and I know that she spoke with him a little bit already but I would like to take an opportunity to publicly praise the NHS Award winner Liam [Music] T Liam is an amazing young man his astounding work ethic and his dedication as the president of the as EHS chapter of the National Honor Society has been greatly appreciated uh one thing I would like to point out uh for those of you who don't know the process for choosing our NHS president has traditionally been one that falls to the evaluations of the teachers and the staff uh each year we're asked to give our feedback about their students their contributions to their classroom leadership value honor uh appropriate behavior and service and you do
047not end up as NHS president without astounding reviews from the faculty and staff each day uh before the monthly meetings uh Liam would come to miss Hutchinson's classroom to discuss the details what the program would uh consist of for each month and ask where he could be of service at each meeting he would take notes and post them in the Google classroom for all the members to be aware of what they missed Liam's constant smile brought joy and peace to every meeting see Mrs Hutchinson is incredibly grateful to Liam because if this year would not have been the success that it was without his leadership and his service on behalf of NHS and on behalf of Mrs Hutchinson thank [Applause] you hello everybody when I became the rotary interact adviser two years ago I had
048no idea how much I would come to love it the passion that these students have for service in their community and others is truly profound and I see a lot of their faces here today specifically up at this table the student receiving this award tonight not only exemplifies these qualities but has gone above and beyond in his executive role volunteering for every event bringing bright new ideas that has helped make the club what it is today and demonstrating a scale of leadership that I know will take him far in the future the recipient of this award is J [Applause] Jacob is what every adviser dreams of with a member he is attentive during club meetings takes initiative in each service opportunity enlightens the room with his sense of humor and companionship with his fellow members
049he can be counted on to lead service projects to promote rotary to each and every person he meets and to make everyone feel welcome and valued he will be dearly missed in the upcoming years but his efforts during this time here will have a lasting impact establishing projects that will continue to run for years to come we are so proud to aad Jacob as a rotary member and we look forward to hearing about all that he accomplishes in the future [Applause] congrats this year's student council award goes to Nick Benedetti in his role as vice president last year and president this year Nick has led meetings planned agendas written and delivered Board of Ed reports helped to plan and run freshman orientation designed and organize homecoming dance decorations energized the school through Innovative Spirit Day
050themes and pep pep rally event ideas individually manage both our stuco Instagram and the senior decisions Instagram page DJ pep rallies he's really done it all but I want to dwell tonight on two things that I think really encapsulate the lasting impact that Nicks had in our organization starting with the Instagram since Nick took sole control of the Instagram in October of last year October 2023 following a minor minor incident minor in yeah Nick then Nick then Nick took control um he's lifted our social media accounts really to new heights um I have some stats on this a 200% engagement growth year-over-year two years in a row which is absolutely nuts and my favorite thing about the Instagram isn't the posts and the creative videos and the way that everybody you know is now relying
051on the Instagram for the school news it's the like the patience and the dedication to feel the all the types of questions that come in through the DMS and I thought I'd take a second just to pull up some of my favorites real quick um so this one was from this week uh yesterday at 3:28 in the morning uh so someone screenshotted their attendance records and said I'm feeling sick I haven't been able to sleep am I allowed to stay home tomorrow right and Nick's response was if you're worried I would call the main office to make sure you're all good what a great response I also like the one back in January that said is it going to snow tomorrow and my favorite my alltime favorite is I miss my bus can you tell
052it to come back and get me and every time right it would be very easy to get that message be like what am I supposed to do this or uh in previous years often times those messages go unanswer till I eventually chime in but by the time I see the notification Nick's already dealt with it it's absolutely amazing and uh all those messages were just from the same student that's just one of the many students who reaches out to us through Instagram and Nick does an absolutely fantastic job so thank you with that um I think the real summary there is that Nick's dedication knows no bounds he isn't afraid to put his all into all the little touches that the potential to make a really huge impact and make things extra special um my
053second thing I wanted to to highlight Is Your Love of balloon arches Nick loves a balloon arch she'll spend hours and hours making these things uh for Friday Night Lights we made a balloon arch despite it being really really windy and then the balloon arch wouldn't hold at all but there was hours spent you also for Friday Night Lights decided that you were going to make by yourself the class posters for all four grades and then spend an hour and a half on the turf trying to hang them somewhere with binder clips or wire eventually we tape them to the hurdles and no one can see them but it's the thought that counts and the effort that counts and you know I I feel bad that that didn't work out the way you originally envisioned
054but I think that we've learned nothing else in stuco over the last couple years it's how to adapt how to roll with changes and how to make it work no matter what and Friday Night Lights is really I think the perfect embodiment of what youve brought to the role of student council president the event started out kind of as a negative right we were told that we couldn't do a during the school day pep rally last May which was a big let down but then it became this opportunity what else could we come up with what else could we do and what we've created is now the event that people look forward to more than anything else uh all school year long it's a Legacy Event it's going to be your legacy uh and that
055event is going to have your DNA all over it for uh for future years I had to get one bio joke in there I'm sorry um Nick sets the bar incredibly high for future student council presidents and we will certainly miss him next year Nick thank you for everything and best of luck at UNCC hello everybody my name is John kinsky I'm the culinary arts teacher here in un High School um the food guy sometimes I'm call cooking guy Uncle K uh I have or school but um yeah uh this year's award goes to Chef David garbarini David please so a couple words about David David's always prepared for a mouth watering col R club meeting is often the first one to arrive call it a specific flavor or just David's Tastefully Pleasant personality he
056definitely knows how to get our meetings hot while staying full as a CU thumber he never makes mistakes however chefs don't make mistakes we call them new dishes David rolls up his sleeves jumps right in and keeps other members out of a pickle so we can end on time th uh I never heard oh CR I missed the bus since David has joined our team I hope the next year David becomes the big cheese the president of the culinary club and continuus it takes whisks whipping up our recipes to let us get together again next year David you're a good egg congratulations and a toast to the [Applause] chef on behalf of Miss Burns who was the advisor Club no that's not wrong that okay it's been a long I'm not lying start over thank
057you on behalf of Miss Burns the adviser for the environmental club uh it is my pleasure to present the award to a student who advocated for the positive changes necessary to preserve the earth and its resources while also embodying the values of true environmental stewardship the award is given to a student who understands the importance of implementing sustainable practices into the daily life while also promoting these same practices within the school and the community to encourage others to make more environmentally sound choices in their own lives this year's recipient has been an environmental Club member since their freshman year and has participated in collection drives community cleanups and fundraising for environmental causes this student is leader within the club and is always added uh has always aided in the recruitment of other students to join
058they volunteered their time at back to school nights and on weekend cleanups they've contributed to Innovative wellth thought out ideas during our club meetings and sometimes I a late night spur the moment emails M Burns do not seem thrill with that part um but all of those emails uh bring commentary on how to improve the sustainability of the school in the community the student truly understands the importance of spreading Environmental awareness so we the environmental Club are lucky to have him back next year leading our school club as well as serving as our student ambassador to the community sustainable Green Team please join me in congratulating this year's recipient of the environmental Club award Christian Sur [Music] [Applause] okay hello I am Mr Gibbs I'm the adviser for the film club uh we watch movies
059every now and again we get a brave soul that tries to make movies that's fun um and we review movies that's what we're about we enjoy film um we spend time talking about film and it's a great time it's a great group of students I was a little worried last year we had like 20 kids early on and then we ended up with like two people so this year was a big recruiting year um and I credit a lot of that to the person that's receiving the film club award Emma alen give her a round of applause I know she did a great job a great job recruiting for us this year and we are back to pretty consistent numbers which is great and we look forward to adding more next year so thank you
060[Applause] Em I'm uh Ian Smith I um am the adviser for the gaming club and it's now the gaming Anime Club um we added that to it but um uh in gaming Club um We Gather to socialize um with shared interest in video and table cop games and now anime as well but with gaming Club there's a lot of things we can get from it uh critical thinking problem solving skills collaboration social skills resiliency creativity and even some uh Real World skills uh that we do uh through our weekly um uh meetings um our second year president he's been the president last year and the face of the gaming Club is that Jordan Clark can come up and Jordan really and I think Jordan really embodied what gaming Club is about someone who wants to
061come and have a good time interact with his friends learn something and be someone to guide and lead and uh Jordan someone who always shows up and I think that's something that's really important about him in gaming club and also other things that assist does that whether gaming Club is a part of or not we for volunteers it's Jordan um and that's really something adal about you I learned something about Jordan he is one of eight siblings all sisters and um and something um we talked about is one thing Jordan really values in his family um and I think that really shows in in his family in life being one of the siblings but also his gaming Club family um being there and um I'm really happy to have you and um Jordan also really
062likes being anime nuto and there's a quote and I think that really um impacts what our gaming Club is about and something for Jordan is in the world no one is perfect even if you keep pursuing Perfection you'll never reach it but along the way you'll become something great and as who you are someone is becoming someone great I thank you for being part of the club and this works for you [Applause] hello I'm Mrs Miller otherwise known as Miller and so this year's njfa award goes to Andrea Tila [Applause] okay so you know what it's her speaking um so Drea was the president of njfa last year and again this year in the fall through senior experience we were fortunate enough to have time during BL 4 to collaborate daily our predominant goal was
063to increase our membership and recruit more students interested in a future career in education a tough job our Pursuit Prov fruitful as we increased our membership from five to 22 students W and because of that I'm also excited to say that the EHS elective tomorrow's teachers will run next year for the first time since the pandemic and I couldn't have done it without Drea's help teaching is a tough gig but we need kind intelligent and considerate students like Drea to forge the future of Education it will be tough to run njfa next year without her but I look forward to hearing about her success at Monclair will where she will major in critical psychology with a concentration in child development and substance abuse counseling thanks for every [Applause] I'm gonna make Atlas stand awkwardly next
064to me as well at least it wasn't only you all right so uh I am presenting the sexuality and gender orance award you want to come on come on I am one of our co-advisors along with Miss Johnson and the fod award is going to Atlas yay so Atlas is one of our longest me uh joining members I don't know what word so Alice has been an Saga from the beginning and is one of our instrumental members uh Atlas helped to get our first fundraiser off the ground this year to support an outside organization it was to benefit next Benedict and the transgender Community uh Atlas always encourages their peers to be active in Saga and other local events Atlas very rarely misses a meeting and when they do the excuse was there and was
065told with advanced notice they are always welcoming and always trying to get their peers to participate comes up with great ideas wonderful presentations is an allaround incredible human being and I am so lucky we are so lucky that we're going to have Atlas next year as well yay [Applause] 7:35 my English goes down the drain [Music] okay do you want me to do it in Spanish Happy okay let me write read this down first okay okay TR okay I have found a person who has matched my intensity and passion in helping and sharing the love for the Spanish language and the Hispanic Community [Music] Janis I have the privilege to have to find janelis and challenging her to take Spanish re owners one year and after that I challenged her with Spanish for and AP
066in the same year okay well again matching my intensity at the end of the year during one of our amazing conversations we realized that this was it we were not going to have any future classes together I'm going to but I knew that janelis was the perfect candidate to become the president of the Spanish club I was delighted when janelis accepted it as since that day janelis has been the heart and soul of the Spanish club janelis has the best ideas for the club not only fun Concepts but Community applications and you see I'm talking you see as well she has covered everything cooking movies dancing playing Gam games and much much more but the most important accomplishment for her is that she has built a connection with the members of the community and other
067clubs she has recognized her leadership skills and has created events and buildt up you in high I am not sure how I will be without you you have inspired me I of crying okay you have inspired me to be a better person mother and teacher you are so determined to be a great doctor and without a doubt you will succeed you need to be proud to okay okay know I was going to do you need to be proud of the positive social impact that you are living in you will have don't forget your future is right like the chines and I something foreign spee [Applause] uh Miss Odell who is our athletic trainer and the adviser for the sports medicine Club could be here with us this evening uh but she asked me to ask
068you to help us celebrate this year's recipient Olivia pno Olivia joined the sports medicine club last year and has continued to be a huge help behind the scenes this year as well both during and outside of her soccer season uh she would come into the room after school and put together heel and Lace pads for ankle tapings she was checking in on a consistent basis and would just start making things up on her own uh it was more appreciated than she could ever really know uh and probably realizes but it was a huge help when I was uh uh when I was she was able to grab one and continue taping ankles and dealing with students and their and their medical needs Liv always has a smile on her face and is a positive uh
069brilliant to student the last two years uh we have seen her take on uh many different leadership roles soccer flag football class activities student council um she is active throughout the school and she continues to grow into a wonderful young woman on behalf of Miss Odell thank you to the live and for everything that she's done this year everything she did last year everything she is doing to grow the club and we all look forward to seeing you continue to grow in your senior year congratulations w so Miss B Mrs Garcia we are the co-advisor of unified Club as well unified Club is a socially inclusive Club where students of all abilities work together we participate in a variety of activities including Sports leadership and various volunteer opportunities most importantly we are building friendships and
070having fun we have had an amazing year with an increase in members and participation allowing us to do even more for inclusion in our school one of these freshmen who joined us this year brought a positive attitude and an eagerness to participate that allow him to stand out we are pleased to announce freshman Aiden Hodge as one of our award winners this [Music] all right Aiden is a dedicated member of the unified Club His Kind friendly personality has made him a wonderful addition to the group he is always smiling and always making other people smile as well Aiden participated in unified respect week activities which is a lot of dedication because it's a full school week of pushing into a lot of the clubs that you have heard from tonight um including service project collaboration
071with Rotary Club and yarn works we look forward to Aiden's continued success throughout the his EHS career congratulations in the spirit of UniFi we would also like to honor another member tonight um this student has gone above and beyond with participation in the club representing unified at various Service events and always being a ray of positivity to those around around him he has taken initiative in each meeting helped others Ed and educate himself on inclusion and respect for people with disabilities we would like to honor colen again colen has been an active and engaged member of unified since our first meeting in September immersing himself into the unified community and making every effort to cultivate unified into a truly inclusive place we depended on to come up with fun ideas and activities that every member
072loves and was an active participant during our respect week this past spring colen was also a volunteer at the poak autism walk even acting as a mascot that students could walk with during the event we are so happy to have as Poland as a member and look forward to seeing his growth through the rest of his time with us [Applause] hey again um Miss BD and I also do yarn work club together um yarnworks is started by our now retired nurse Mrs Curran it is a club where students and staff members can destress and craft after a long day as happens every year attendance fluctuates with Sport Seasons and new clubs this year one of our dedicated members did not miss meeting Christa Gonzalez [Applause] Chris is a talented artist in a number of meetings
073a number of mediums including narn Miss B and I were in awe watching Christa turn what looked like finger gloves into cat paws eventually we learned that Christa also knits having been taught by Miss C chryst was a big help during the UniFi week service project where we worked with other clubs to label bags from rest Street Friends new yarnworks is proud to a [Applause] all right the final Awards of the evening uh each year student council recognizes a group of seniors who have distinguished themselves over the course of their High School career through their various contributions to their class their peers and the school's various service organizations the recipients of this award um are going to be brought up here in just a second for the first time uh there are three different Pathways
074by which seniors can qualify for this award and the award results in these lovely blue and white honor chords for graduation and while in the past years we've given these out number one we've never given out as many before as we're going to give out tonight so U that's a testim to the amazing class of 2024 and we also thought it would be a great uh way to start a new tradition and formally recognize these students at an awards night and so as I call your name please join us up here and receive your chords our first category of recipients for the school service award are the seniors who have made meaningful contributions to their school through through their roles as student council officers receiving the court through this pathway are Nick Benedetti Mi a
075four-year member and three-year officer and the outgoing Stu Co president and Board of Ed rep uh he'll be attending UNCC in the fall uh Goldie George Goldie is also a three-year officer who's always been ready to lend a helping hand and she'll be attending forest insute in college next year in route to becoming a dental assistant and hygienist next up we have Lydia green another three-year officer who along with Goldie has been among our most dedicated lunch volunteers oftentimes working the studo table not just during her lunch but all the other lunches as well uh Lydia will be attending Ruckers Cen and studying nursing in the fall next please welcome Juliana Medina [Music] Jules is a two-year member and two-year officer of stuko who jumped right in with both feet when she uh joined last
076year became a key contribut to everything from homecoming setups to pep rally prep um and she'll be attending forom University at Lincoln Center to study theater design and production Liam T come on [Music] down Li's another two-year member and two-year officer who started out as one of our most dedicated peer tutors and worked his way up to helping coordinate the peer tutoring program Liam is going to Ruckers New Brunswick in the fall to study computer science next up please welcome AWA white a is another member of the two-year two-year officer uh club uh she's made key contribution to both our spirit and events committees as well as the diversity and inclusion initiatives such as products related to Black History Month like the afro artsfest women's history month and so much more she'll be attending the
077George Washington University in the fall to stud psychology our final senior officer n Glover could not be here tonight I think she's on a cruise somewhere yeah she's cruising but we'll make sure that she gets her cords when she returns um I'm now going to go on to our second category of recipients so student council officers please stay up here our second category of recipients for the service award are seniors who distinguished themselves by winning an activities award from either their class or one of the school's various service organizations so we have a few seniors whove qualified this way first up Dylan Roberts and taana pegler Dylan and taana are being honored for their work at the black student Alliance Dylan's also been active in student council over the years and has been hounding me
078to be an officer for this very reason so you're welcome for getting the chords great job uh he's going to Temple next year to study interational business and Tatiana will be headed to Kane to study accounting next up being recognized for their work with a class of 2024 Jasmine Bell and Vicki Sanchez Jasmine won this year's class award and is also an officer of the BSA she's headed to Xavier University of Louisiana next year to study business and Vicki won her class award last year and is at times been The Unofficial third class advisor helping with everything from catian setups to running the team at Pep rallies also High active student council uh Vicki's going to Rowan to study sociology next year our final senior qualified via the service award uh pathway or service Club
079pathway is Jacob FAL off in addition to all of his wonderful work with the rotary interact Club Jacob was also a key contributor to this year's freshman orientation program he's also peer leader and he's also headed to Rowan pursuing his Bachelor of Science in engineering entrepreneurship our final category of recipients for the award this year and the honor cords are those who have distinguished themselves by being dedicated peer tutors here at the high school first up azamat Amed Z has been probably our most enthusiastic tutor for the past few years she every single time I post that we need a new tutor she is the first one to apply in Google Classroom we've actually had the conversation that no you can't tutor five people at once Z is headed to the Air Force next year
080please welcome back to the front Daniel Armstrong Daniel's earned the distinction of logging the most tutoring hours out of everybody in the high school great job Daniel he also helped out on pep rally days and uh he's head to Purdue in the fall to study mechanical engineering congratulations our final tutor to be recognized who's here tonight is Sarah Ashenfelter you know often times we get requests for English help or math help but when the science help request comes in very few people answer the the Bell but Sarah does she's been our our bio and AP Bio standout tutor and she's attending the University of Miami in the fall a major in biochem and nutrition and pursuit of Premed track congratulations Lauren Nelson who could not be here tonight will also be receiving the blue and
081white chords upon her return through her work as a peer tutor where she's logged over 10 hours let's get one final Applause for all 16 recipients of this year's school school Service Awards please try not to lose the Cs between now and next Friday get picture um on behalf of the administration on behalf of all of the advisers The Faculty um we just want to take an opportunity to before we wrap up just say thank you once again to all of our award winners all of our participants in our clubs and activities uh you keep our school running uh you keep our programs going and growing and without you this I don't even know what this place would be like if we didn't have your energy and your excitement and your investment in making this
082just the best possible place that uh that it could be uh so again thank you everybody for coming tonight um if you didn't see so there's a digitized version uh there's a QR code on the back of your uh program for tonight uh it's got a digital version of the uh packet with all the award winners and their photos in it um if you are peckish there's to go plates please pack them up take a cupcake for the road no one who doesn't love a cupcake roie take one grab a drink pack your stuff up uh we tried to get you out by before 8:00 uh thank you for everybody who came and we wish you just the best summer have a wonderful year