On Thursday, March 14 MacArthur had the second awards assembly, and it was 40 minutes long.  In the quad, everyone on the MacArthur campus gathered to recognize the students who are excelling in spirit, pride, and achievement.  Students were called up, individually or in groups, for their recognition and/or awards.

This assembly began by recognizing students on the Principal’s List, Honor Roll, V.I.P.  All three recognitions were based on students’ first-semester academic performance. The Principal’s List recognizes students with a G.P.A. of 3.83 or over, the Honor Roll recognizes students with a G.P.A. of 3.0-3.82, and the V.I.P. recognizes students with outstanding in all citizenship grades.

Other awards that were given out during the awards assembly were the All-Stars, King and Queens for History Faire, boys volleyball, model congress, the highest Winter MAP test scores, AVID awards, and AMC 8 awards.

Principal Mrs. Katherine Berger said, “The reason we have awards assembly is to recognize those students who are doing well in their classes.”  The reason the awards assemblies are during the morning is that it has not become too hot to have the assembly outside.

According to Berger, all the awards given out were important. Berger said, “All the awards are important, but the All-Stars do show well-rounded students because it has to do with you having different qualities, or showing various achievements, and is not just being smart or athletic.”  However, she is proud of all students, even if those who did not get an award or recognized at this assembly.

The faculty and staff giving out the awards included Berger, Mrs. Emily Fellmer, Mrs. Holly Kotler, Mrs. Cristina Barber, Mr. David Chee, Mr. Jesus Lozano, and Mrs.Tammy Manske, Ms. Sandi Palmer, and Mr. John Degree.  Mr. Jim Axton also collected photos for the end-of-the-year slideshow.

Boys Volleyball Coach Mr. Jesus Lozano said, “The boys who got awards at the assembly were chosen by their performance at the tournament and progress during practice.”  Lozano also coaches other sports like football, basketball, volleyball, and track. “They were sweating excellence,” said Lozano.

At the awards assembly, Kotler gave out second-year All-Star awards.  All-star awards are important because they encourage students to participate and achieve in a variety of categories.  

To reach All-Star status, students must accumulate 10 signatures for seventh and eighth-grade students, and eighth for sixth-grade students.  The signatures include items like passing the Summer Reading book, participating in a sport, or completing a fundraiser.  “It should be called the awesome awards,” said Kotler who oversees the All-Star program with Barber and Fellmer.   

According to Berger, the second awards assembly recognized 990 students in total, 124 different students were called to the stage.