Three large banners hung from the rafters of the CCHS auditorium stage as some of the most exemplary students in the Class of 2018 took their seats in several rows of black chairs. Each came dressed in their best attire in order to celebrate CCHS’s annual senior awards. The event took place on Wednesday evening beginning at roughly 7 p.m. and was led by a majority of the faculty and staff of the school.
The ceremony commemorated the achievements of the Class of 2018, including academic excellence, achievement within clubs and “overall” achievements (including awards such as “Outstanding Leadership” and “Most Outstanding” male and female). The event also presented certain students with scholarships and acknowledged students that would be attending specific college programs.
Principal Wendy Doll welcomed the students, families and friends, congratulating them on their success in the past four years of high school.
One of the most notable awards presented was the first ever Best Buddies award.
The evening began with the presentation of colors by the NJROTC students, followed by the national anthem sung by outgoing senior Sarah Sarver. Principal Wendy Doll welcomed the students, families and friends, congratulating them on their success in the past four years of high school.
“Don’t forget the journey,” Principal Doll said. “Respect, humility and compassion are an integral part of your path.”
She went on to emphasize the four most important attributes of a successful student: determination, effort, perseverance and commitment.
“It’s unreal how quickly high school has gone by,” senior Kendyl Counts said. “But the senior awards ceremony gave us a chance to pause and reflect on everything we did over the past four years.”
After Doll’s commencement address, the first portion of the program focused on scholarships. This segment involved the presentation of scholarships associated with the school. Several representatives attended the ceremony to present the awards to the students. The scholarships presented were in association with:
- American Legion Post 223
- Best Buddies
- Broward College
- Broward Technical College
- Cooper City Firefighters
- Cooper City Kiwanis Club
- Cooper City Waste Management
- Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce
- Dr. Brian Dassler Memorial
- James Henry II & Lindsay Jean LAyer Memorial
- Partners in Education
- PTSA Steve Shultze Stampede
- Rotary Club
- SMASH
- US Air Force ROTC
“But the senior awards ceremony gave us a chance to pause and reflect on everything we did over the past four years.”
The second portion of the ceremony was focused on other scholarships that were not presented by the schools and lacked representatives to award them to their recipients. These included college scholarships as well as any others not affiliated with the Broward County School System. The awards that were unrelated to any CCHS departments or clubs included:
- Community Service
- National Merit Scholarship Program
- Perfect Attendance
- Silver Knight
- Broward County Senior Leaders
- Straight “A” Students
- Scholar Athletics
The following were the department awards, which were awarded to students who excelled within a particular academic area and were presented by various department heads. The awards and their recipients were:
- Exceptional Student Education – L’Mya Eady, John Elder and Athena Vantrees
- Art – Courtney Turk
- Chorus – Sarah Sarver
- Band – Marc Olmeda
- Film – Paul Allen
- Theatre Performer – Joania Hernandez
- Technical – Casey Carlson
- Language Arts – Aimee Becker
- Language Arts – Kendyl Counts
- Yearbook – Morgan Malan
- Newspaper – Ryan Sullivan
- Debate – Bruce Glasserman
- AP Research – Kendyl Counts
- Mathematics – Hugh Dennin
- Navy Junior ROTC – John Lystad
- Physical Education – Dylan Graziani
- Science – Caleb Neale
- Social Studies – Tamarah Wallace
- French – Barbara Bernal
- Spanish – Michael Zinn
- Academy of Fashion – Katherine Smith
- Academy of Finance – Matthew Plonskier
- DECA – Matthew Plonskier
- Automotive – Lucas Vanwijk
- Drafting – Brennen Reid
- Digital Media/ TV production – Casey Chapter
- Early Childcare – Alyssa Levy
The members of the Student Government Association, including President Emily Miranda, and the senior class officers were also recognized at the event. After these students received their certificates of recognition, came the Outstanding Senior awards. The awards and their recipients were:
- Outstanding Citizenship – Isabella Tocci
- Outstanding Leadership – Sabrine Brismeur
- Outstanding School Spirit – Emily Miranda
- Outstanding Service – Tamarah Wallace
- Most Outstanding Male – Bailey Kraus
- Most Outstanding Female – Kendyl Counts
“I loved seeing my peers be recognized for everything that they do, and it meant the world to be recognized myself,” Counts said. “I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunities that this school has given me, and I’m so happy that the year is ending on such a high note.”
Disclaimer: Kendyl Counts is the current Print Editor-in-Chief of The Lariat, Ryan Sullivan is a current photographer of The Lariat, Tamarah Wallace is a current staffer and general editor of The Lariat and Sabrine Brisemur is the current Managing Editor of The Lariat.
Photo by Sarah Khan
