Student achievement recognized at annual Honor’s Night
Starr’s Mill teachers await the beginning of the Honor’s Night ceremony in the Willie Duke Auditorium on May 2. At Honor’s Night, students are recognized for their academic and extracurricular achievements through the presentation of scholarships, special recognition awards and department awards.
May 22, 2016
On May 2, Starr’s Mill students and teachers gathered at the Willie Duke Auditorium to participate in the annual Honor’s Night. Here, the best and the brightest of the Mill were awarded by the school, universities, and the community for their dedication to their academics as well as their extracurricular achievements.
The evening began with the awarding of local scholarships to current seniors. Local organizations designated an essay prompt for seniors to write, and the winners were awarded the scholarship money. The organizations include Clothes Less Traveled, Coweta-Fayette EMC, Key Club, Peachtree City Optimist Club, Peachtree City Running Club, World Gym, National BETA Club, Panther Athletic Booster Club, PAGE and the Parent-Teacher-Student Organization. Senior Maddie Beatty was awarded the $1500 Sam Sweat Honorary Scholarship by the PTSO. “It was incredible,” Beatty said. “I did not think I was going to beat out several other seniors, so when they started quoting my essay I was stunned.”
‘[B]eing recognized for [the scholarship] at Honor’s Night made me feel like my decision of going to Mississippi State was official.’
— Jamie Richards
This year, the prompt for the PTSO scholarships required seniors to choose their most influential teacher and write about the effect these teachers had on them. Beatty chose to write about biology teacher Kelly Rock. “Mrs. Rock really encouraged me to pursue and be curious about biology, and for that I am so grateful,” Beatty said. “She was one of my favorite teachers of my high school career.”
College scholarships were also awarded to seniors by their respective universities. University of Alabama, Auburn University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Mississippi State University sent representatives to award the university-based scholarships. “I was very excited receiving a scholarship from Mississippi State,” senior Jamie Richards said. “I got a scholarship and the amount before, but being recognized for it at Honor’s Night made me feel like my decision of going to Mississippi State was official.”
In addition, seniors who are pursuing careers involving the military in college were awarded ROTC or appointment scholarships. Senior Shannon Mudrinich received an Air Force ROTC scholarship. She was also offered an appointment to West Point and an Army ROTC scholarship, but decided to participate in the Air Force ROTC because she felt it was the best fit for her. “The primary reason I am participating in this program is because I want to become an Air Force officer. I have always loved serving, leading, and helping others. It’s also really special being a part of something bigger than yourself,” Mudrinich said. “I am really looking forward to challenging myself and developing my character and leadership skills in the ROTC. It is going to be a great adventure.”
After senior scholarships were presented, special recognition awards were given to students who present traits of leadership and character. Specifically, the AJC Cup Award, the Mowell Cup, the Kroc Youth Achievement Award and the Superintendent’s Award are special recognition awards presented annually to four seniors. “These are traditional awards in the county and have been presented each year since Starr’s Mill opened,” counselor Paula O’Shields said.
This year, Dhruva Jandhyala won the AJC Cup Award, Dominique Dawson won the Mowell Cup and Jimbo Alldredge received the Ray Kroc Youth Achievement Award. The winner of the Superintendent’s Award is announced at graduation. The recipients of these four awards are determined by the faculty at the Mill. “The ballots are distributed to the teachers, and the teacher submit the names of the students they think are most appropriate for the award,” O’Shields said. “Then, once a shorted list for each award is gathered, the faculty then votes again to see which one student should be awarded each of the awards.”
The faculty also selected their most outstanding student for every class offered at Starr’s Mill to receive the Department Awards. The head of every department announced the winners of these awards at Honor’s Night. The recipients included:
Outstanding FACS/FCCLA Student: Alyssa Loesch
Outstanding Healthcare Science Student: Lexy Weaver
Outstanding Yearbook students: Alania Davanzo, Kimmy Girolami, Miguel Gonzalez,
Kenna McKenzie, Natalie Wilson
Outstanding Reading student: Santiago Espinosa
Outstanding Freshman College Prep English Student: Jacob Just-Buddy
Outstanding Freshman Gifted English Student: Brady Meyer
Outstanding Sophomore College Prep English Student: Mia Henriksen
Outstanding Sophomore Gifted English Student: Ryan Ragsdale
Outstanding Junior College Prep English Student: Liam O’Connell
Outstanding Junior AP English Student: Yuri-Grace Ohashi
Outstanding Senior College Prep English Student: Kelly Wildermuth
Outstanding AP Literature Student: Erin Carpenter
Outstanding Introductory Creative Writing Student: Madison Martin
Outstanding Advanced Creative Writing Student: Dana Gould
Musings Editor-in-Chief: Walker Allen and Morgan Prillaman
The Prowler Editor-in-Chief: Erin Schilling
Outstanding Freshman Art Student: Qi Ru Lin
Outstanding Sophomore Art Student: Valerie Benavides
Outstanding Junior Art Student: Maddison Laney
Outstanding Senior Art Student: Victoria Alvarez
Outstanding Senior Chorus Student: Kelly Wildermuth
Outstanding AP Art History: Bryce Smith
Outstanding Spanish I Student: Providence Blalock
Outstanding Spanish II Student: Tim Hahn
Outstanding Spanish III Student: Mary Katherine Adcox
Outstanding Spanish IV Student: Angela Ricketts
Outstanding AP Spanish Student: Jimbo Alldredge
Premio de Honor (AATSP): Faith Terry
Outstanding French I Student: Samuel Navarro Michel
Outstanding French II Student: John Snitzer
Outstanding French III Student: Madeleine Childress
Outstanding French IV Student: Kenna McKenzie
Outstanding German I Student: Brian Dixon
Outstanding German II Student: Kayla Christ
Outstanding German III Student: Madison Hagen
Outstanding German IV Student: Logan Smith
American Sign Language Year I: Ira Krista Collendrino
American Sign Language Year II: David Martin
Outstanding Algebra Student: Shelby Thomsen
Outstanding Analytic Geometry Student: Reese Camarata
Outstanding Advanced Algebra Student: Jillian Ruvalcaba
Outstanding Accelerated Algebra/Geometry Student: Brandon Lemmons
Outstanding Accelerated Analytic Geometry/ Advanced Algebra Student: Ore Amosu
Outstanding Accelerated Precalculus Student: J.C. Talbott
Outstanding AP Statistics Student: Conner Holt
Outstanding AP Calculus Student: Joshua Tysor
Outstanding Female Physical Education Student: Zemmie L. Seger
Outstanding Male Physical Education Student: James Michael Burnett, Jr.
Outstanding Biology Student: Ty Duben
Outstanding Gifted Biology Student: Ally Marshall and Naomi Valeich
Outstanding AP Biology Student: Derek Camacho
Outstanding Chemistry Student: Erin Rathje
Outstanding Gifted Chemistry Student: Conner Holt
Outstanding AP Chemistry Student: Maddie Beatty
Outstanding Earth Systems Student: Tommy Pruitt
Outstanding Environmental Science Student: Katie Shockley
Outstanding Forensics Student: Alexis Halm
Outstanding AP Environmental Science Student: Michaela Cushing
Outstanding Anatomy and Physiology Student: Hannah Fertig
Outstanding Physics Student: Tristan Goolsby
Outstanding AP Physics I Student: Allie Fisher
Outstanding AP Physics C Student: Rickey Macke
Outstanding World History Student: Matthew Hargrove
Outstanding AP World History Students: Ian Darling and Marleena Tamminen
Outstanding US History Student: Justin Paul Allen
Outstanding Government Student: Erin Carpenter
Outstanding Economics Student: Andrea Rathje
Outstanding AP European History Students: Erin Carpenter and Kacey Yonkovitz
Outstanding AP Government Students: Maria Curry and Yuri-Grace Ohashi
Outstanding AP Macroeconomics Student: Morgan Knowlton
Outstanding AP Human Geography Student: Blythe Terry
Outstanding AP Psychology Student: Christina Hubeli
Outstanding AP US History Students: Angela Ricketts and Jillian Ruvalcaba
