By Sloane Samberson
Staff Writer
On Monday morning, Coppell High School held its senior award ceremony to recognize all the accomplishments the class of 2014 has made in the past year.
Students were recognized for a variety of accomplishments: National Merit, National Honor Society, Major C Award, Military Enlistees, UIL, State Level or Above Athletic Competitors, State Level or Above Academic Competitors, Local Scholarships, Distinguished Achievement Program, Top 10% and Top 10 Students.
“It is very exciting to see my students win awards because I know years of hard work and effort has paid off and also because I know they are about to start their future careers. It is rewarding for me to have had a window into their lives as their counselor, it makes me feel connected,” counselor Stacey McNeely said.
Some students were constantly up at the stage receiving awards for achievements or standing up in recognition.
“Not many people knew about how hard I had worked in high school, so it felt great to be recognized. I remember being a junior and watching the award ceremony hoping I would win one, so now I feel accomplished like I am ending my high school years as well as I had hoped,” senior Rachel Boaz said.
The ceremony was not thrown together in one day. Up to six weeks before ceremony day, planning begins.
“There is a lot of preparation for this event. We had to get all students names for their awards, making sure they are spelt correctly. The assistant principals helped in organizing that, as well as the counselors. For the set up of the gym, we had PE and athletic classes help,” principal Mike Jasso said.
Many parents attended the ceremony to watch their son or daughter get awarded for their successes.
“As a parent, seeing my son [Emilio Morlett] about to graduate high school makes me feel so accomplished as a mom, like all the late nights helping him study or finish a project has been worth it. I knew he could do it all along,” Gabriela Morlett said.
Some parents have attended the CHS senior award ceremony in previous years for they have a child who is in college or has already graduated college. Sending a child off to college is one rodeo they know how to handle.
“For the parents who are putting their first child into college, breathe. All the costs and debt will be managed. Your son or daughter will be OK,” senior Hank Howard’s mom Lori Howard said. “They may start off having too much fun, not worrying about studies, but they will figure out that college is not just about having fun. Its time to let them go so they can find out who they are.”
CHS administrators, teachers and counselors made hard decisions in choosing a male and female representative for each CHS award. The awards were given to the following students:
Spirit of CHS
Trent Armstrong
Ali Martinez
Pride of CHS
Terrence Yi
Lindsay Stivers
Heart of CHS
Dp Lambert
Sydney Owens
Principal Award
Luke Farrell
Mary Claire Phillips
CHS Blanket Award
Kilian Bresnahan
Lily Balsamo
Coppell Fight Never Dies
Chris Adkins
Amber Omar
Mr. and Miss CHS
Solomon Thomas
Mary Claire Phillips
All seniors who won an award or recognition deserved it. It is evident how hard the seniors have worked this year by the total amount in scholarship money they were given. This year, CHS students received $22,561,305.00 in scholarship funds.
“I am so proud of this class, and I think it is great to see so many of our seniors receive awards, share their successes, and leave a lasting legacy of excellence,” senior class president Kilian Bresnahan said. “It represents our knowledge, leadership and pride. It may be the end of our time here, but it’s the start of our tradition to excellence in our futures. Coppell fight never dies.”
