Seniors Receive Honors, Scholarships At Award Night

Senior+Ben+Stone+receives+the+solutatorian+award+from+Principal+Joey+McQueen+and+Assistant+Principal+Paul+Weinheimer+April+26.+

Amelia Stanley

Senior Ben Stone receives the solutatorian award from Principal Joey McQueen and Assistant Principal Paul Weinheimer April 26.

Camille Rivera, Reporter

Senior award night was April 26 to award the seniors for their accomplishments throughout high school, involving National Honors Society, Top 10 Percent and distinguished awards. However, the premise of the award’s night is scholarships. From the local scholarships, over $40,000 was given to the seniors. 

Senior class president Ciara Carnes introduced the ceremony to the audience.

“The ceremony was good!” Carnes said. “I feel like there was a good turn out from the town, lots of support for the seniors. There were also a lot of seniors present which I was happy about. It means so many of us did great things this year!”

Carnes was awarded a $40,000 scholarship from Sam Houston University to attend the Honors College. She has done a lot in her high school career and looks forward to a bright future studying geology. 

“Applying for the scholarships was  pretty easy,” senior Callie Bekker said. “Most require the same things such as recommendation letters from teachers and essays based on a prompt they give you and I applied to about 15 local scholarships.”

Bekker received around $3,000 in scholarships as well as being awarded the Speech Department Award. She has been distinguished to the school by receiving the Top 10 percent Stole and National Honors Society Collar.

“The ceremony was really nice,” Bekker said. “It showed that all the admin. and the teachers that had a hand in setting it up care about us and wanted us to feel special.” 

Senior Aryana Curtis received $3,500 at the award night, as well as other honors from National Honors Society and Top 10 percent. 

“I applied for these scholarships through the counselor’s corner page on the lisdtx.org website,” Curtis said. “However, one scholarship I received, an English Scholarship, I didn’t apply for and I received it because I earned the English Department award. The process was long and tedious but worth it.”

Some of the people who won the most local scholarships were seniors Emily Brister and Morgan Myers. 

“They really received a lot, but good for them,” Bekker said. “I know they had to apply for a ton of scholarships to receive that many, which must have been a lot to do.”

Senior Anna Burgess received $260,000 dollars from Harvard to attend. She will pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. 

Senior Nyla Long received $73,000 to attend Mary Hardin Baylor. 

“The ceremony was good, but very bittersweet as it finalized that I would be graduating soon,” Curtis said.