KHS recognizes student success

“It’s really nice to see all of my hard work recognized, especially in classes that I didn’t really expect,” said senior Alison Narog, who was awarded excellence in grade 12 math and science. “I may not have had the highest grades in those classes, but it’s nice.”

Counselor Jason Fox is responsible for organizing the event. Traditionally, the Academic Excellence Assembly has been an evening event for parents and students to come in.

“This time is a little bit of a change, having it as a schoolwide assembly,” Fox said. “That change came out of our Foundations team of staff members here at the high school. They thought that recognizing students in front of other students would help improve school climate, make other students aware of what different students are doing within the building, and that’s also an opportunity for parents to come in during the school day, too.”

Said Narog: “In the past it was just in the evenings, with just parents and families. Anyone in the school may not have known about [the assembly], so it was cool for all of my peers to be able to see all the students that were recognized for their accomplishments.”

Fox said students are awarded based on decisions made by teachers in their respective departments. Awards are not based on grade requirements. Instead, during the assembly teachers credited students’ abilities to push their limits, ask questions, take on difficult problems, and be leaders as some of the reasons for recognizing them in the Academic Excellence Assembly.

“It’s a conversation within each department, in terms of deciding who the most recognized or accomplished student from the semester was in that department,” Fox said. “But it’s more of a conversation among teachers who share that student to go through that process together to figure out who their nominee is.”

Fox said that the school doesn’t have an advisory period this year, and that there aren’t many scheduled schoolwide assemblies this academic year, adding: “This is probably a trend in the right direction.”