Ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders received awards from their teachers during lunch on Wednesday in the SDA Learning Commons.

Students met with their teachers and parents over a pizza lunch and were given their awards. Also throughout the ceremony, a slideshow played, showing photos of the students and compliments about them from their teachers.

Spanish teacher Bryn Faris said that she enjoyed the ceremony because it gave her the opportunity to acknowledge amazing students and their effort.

History teacher Stephen Fisher said that he likes giving the awards to deserving students because it makes a “student’s day really special” and that “sometimes in high school life gets a little hard, so this little moment can be something they look back on.”

Students enjoyed the ceremony too because they were able to talk with their teachers one-on-one and hang out with their friends.

“I like all the enthusiasm, the slide show, and the nice words” said sophomore Emily Einspar. “It was an amazing event that recognized good people and what they do for SDA.”

In previous years, the awards ceremony was an hour long for the ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders, then the senior awards went for an hour after a thirty minute break.

Assistant Principal Jeanne Jones said that they changed it this year because before the ceremony was poorly attended; the parents would not come. The teachers would say 20 words about the student they chose and hand them an award, said Jones.

Also, Jones said that teachers would normally do their own awards anyway and nominate kids inside of class instead of recognizing and involving more students; it did not feel like SDA, it felt like each of the departments doing their own thing completely.

Some teachers chose not to participate in the awards ceremony. English teacher Mary King said that she found it “nearly impossible to choose just one student from all [her] classes” since there are so many “high-achieving and hard-working students.”

Overall teachers and students thought the awards ceremony went well. Jones said, “I thought it went smoothly because the teachers and students were enthusiastic and the parents showed up. It felt more like SDA than ever.”