All-School Scholar recognition moved to Awards Night

By Mary Wolters, Staff Reporter

The Conestoga administration revised the senior graduation ceremony’s practices regarding awards announcements, starting with the Class of 2023. They moved the acknowledgements of All-School Scholars to Senior Awards Night, instead of calling them out alongside a graduate’s name during senior graduation, as it has previously done.’

Students earn the All-School Scholar award after maintaining a weighted GPA of at least 4.8 by the third marking period of their senior year, completing at least 20 academic credits and earning passing grades in all subjects.

In previous years, All-School Scholar students received a special cup and cord alongside their high school diploma at graduation as an acknowledgement of their accomplishments. This year, the All-School Scholars will be invited to attend the Senior Awards Night on June 1, during which Conestoga will grant the students their awards.

According to Conestoga Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger, the administration wanted graduation to be “a night where the accomplishments of all graduates are celebrated, not distinguishing specific achievements.”

Senior class advisers Richard and Amy Hawkins believe the changes will improve the awards ceremony experience for All-School Scholars. In previous years, the administration did not directly inform students if they were All-School Scholars before the ceremony, which led to some confusion amongst students as to who had received the award. Many students also misplaced their cup soon after the ceremony, and the administration had to re-identify the students to return their awards.

“It’s logistically (harder) up on stage to have the diploma, the cup and the cord (because) that’s a lot for a person to do as they go across,” Amy Hawkins said. “So, I think that it will actually be more special having an awards night where the kids get to know ahead of time and have the cord that they get to wear into graduation instead of (receiving it) on stage.”

The Senior Awards Night is held before graduation in the auditorium every year. Many different awards are granted to students, including special community service and leadership accolades. This year, more students will be in attendance for their All-School Scholar award.

“It’ll be a smaller ceremony (than graduation), but I think it’s more special,” Amy Hawkins said. “They get to have that time to enjoy (the award), and then they’ll know going into graduation the following week.”

Mary Wolters can be reached at [email protected].