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By Lindsey Pittman
tudents prepare for one final week of school by ending this week with the annual Honors Day program. Many preparations have gone into today’s program. “I have to get all the information from the department heads about who will be receiving awards,” Mrs. Jane Nierman, secretary said. “I work with sponsors of groups, and I work with guidance a lot. I work with guidance on putting things like academic awards together for the students.” Along with working with other departments, Mrs. Nierman has worked just as much on her own. “I order a lot of the awards the students will be receiving,” Mrs. Nierman said. “I have to talk to the teachers and find out how many students will be receiving department awards so I order the right amount. I start getting everything together for the program in February. I start getting information from the teachers about what award they will be giving. I have names to put in for the engraving on the medallions and awards.” The schedule for the program typically re-
mains the same. “For the most part, it’s the same format as past years,” Mr. Marlowe Mullen, assistant principal, said. “However, I was going through last year’s program, and I noticed we kind of announced academic awards, then switched to non-academic, and then went back to announcing academic awards. I have requested that this year we keep the categories together.” Although the senior class is seated in front of the auditorium, seniors are not the only students honored. “The main function of Honors Day is to honor the seniors who have made it through four years and have made it to graduation,” Mr. Mullen said. “However, every year we are blessed with underclassmen who have also received awards throughout the year so we like to honor them as well.” Underclassmen who will receive awards will have a reserved section for seating. “Some underclassmen come up, some stand,” Mr. Mullen said. “Those students honored have the first three rows on the west side of the auditorium reserved.” Underclassmen and their parents are notified in advance if they will be receiving an award. “I do call all the parents of the seniors who will
be receiving department awards,” Mrs. Nierman said. “I make sure to tell them when I talk to them that their child does not know they will be receiving the award. In fact, I tell them when I call that the reason I am not sending something through the mail to tell them is because it’s all supposed to be a big secret.” Mr. Mullen serves as the master of ceremonies. “Traditionally, my role has been to introduce the names of those students being honored,” Mr. Mullen said. “There are quite a few large groups who are announced, so in that case, I just announce the group. Groups who only have a few members, I usually will read the names. Sometimes, I’ll go through and add some groups; sometimes, I’ll go through and delete some. I time the program a few days before the program because I know when that bell rings at 2:30, the student body is ready to go whether I’m done or not.” Mrs. Nierman also works with guidance secretary, Mrs. Karen Schotts towards the end of the year. However, Mrs. Schotts ensures graduation runs smoothly. “My main responsibility is putting together the commencement bulletin for graduation,”
Mrs. Schotts said. “What I do is I get all the scholarship information for the awards and medals for both the school and C-9 that the students will be receiving.” The commencement bulletin is presented at the graduation ceremony. “The bulletin shows the names of every student who is graduating, what honors they will be graduating with, as well as any awards or metals they will be receiving,” Mrs. Schotts said. “It’s a tri-fold bulletin that every person receives when they walk in, and each senior has one on their seats as well.” While putting together a bulletin might seem like a small amount of work, the reality is just the opposite. “I start working on the bulletin about the second week of April,” Mrs. Schotts said. “I do work with Mrs. Nierman kind of simultaneously as she works on the Honors Day program to come up with the awards. In April, we have about six weeks left before our deadline. Then, I have to make sure all the names are correct on the bulletin and send it off to the printer.” Due to the program, students will be on a convocation schedule today with the program starting at 1:42 p.m. in the auditorium.
Final exams call for different test prep
Shannon Veerkamp graphic