On May 17, there were 44 students honored by Seneca staff.
Seneca High School held its Fifteenth Annual People’s Choice Awards ceremony on May 17, giving the staff an opportunity to honor students who have had a positive impact on them.
The honorees ranged from freshmen to seniors, and were recognized by the staff for a variety of reasons, whether for a random act of kindness or through years of bonding in the classroom. The staff member remains anonymous to the student until they are called up by them to receive their medal on stage.
The ceremony was coordinated by Seneca’s Renaissance Club, which was created to recognize positive accomplishments by students and faculty throughout the entire high school community.
“Our overall goal is to let our students know they have impacted one of the staff member’s lives in some way. It’s a time to let students know they made a difference,” Renaissance Club advisor Sandy Langan said.
The students of the Renaissance Club and its advisors, Langan, Kasey Makowski and Jamie Meyers, also coordinate many other events, including the Perfect Attendance Breakfast, Senior Pinning Ceremony, Safe Trick-or-Treat, Smart Cookie Awards, Principal’s List Breakfasts, Renaissance Golden Eagle Awards, Do Gooder Recognition, Student of the Month Recognition, Staff Appreciation Campaigns, Senior College Wall and Senior Thank You Letters.
The People’s Choice nominees were welcomed to the stage by English teacher and master of ceremonies Sean Cassel.
As Cassel took the stage, he said, “At Seneca we are fortunate to have kids who are really smart and really talented. Tonight’s honorees may also be really smart and really talented, but more importantly, they’ve been chosen because of who they are and what they mean to the people who chose them. They’ve been chosen because of their character.”
He emphasized the impact each student has made at Seneca, and wants them to take pride in their disposition.
“From a pool of over 1,100 students, just 44 tonight will receive a medal based on their strength of character,” Cassel said. “It’s you, the students on stage, and it’s who you are that makes you special. It’s been said that the truth of your character is expressed through the choice of your actions. Tonight your actions have been recognized.”
Principal Jeff Spector addressed the staff directly, saying, “This evening is not only about recognizing our students, it’s also about you, our Seneca staff, for taking the effort to connect with our students and allowing them to touch your heart.”
Before welcoming the teachers to the stage to award the students they nominated, Spector also thanked the students for touching the lives of the staff members and for making Seneca a better place.
All recipients are encouraged to wear their medals during their future graduation ceremony to show their appreciation, and seniors will have the opportunity to write “thank you” letters to the staff members who have made a meaningful impact on them.
Students awarded at the People’s Choice Awards ceremony were:
- Ninth-grade winners: Sharon Feinlab, Ava Grashorn, Matthew Miller, Kayla Sinclair and Aiden Wells.
- Tenth-grade winners: Madison Marshall, Chris Miller, Madison Miller and Karra Wozniak.
- Eleventh-grade winners: Tori Bowman, Cody Gordon, Dominic Lubrano, Lola Marian, Abbey Miskiewicz, Claudia Parzyck and Emma Thompson.
- Twelfth-grade winners: Marcus Artistone, Evylese Bratten, Shannon Briggs, Tiffany Briscoe, Tyler Brockson, Bronte Castro, Hailey Chapman, Jenna Daunoras, Nicholas Decker, Taylor Fisher, Rachel Green, Madison Groody, Kevin Gsell, Maxwell Heatter, Grayce Heinemann, Luke Hoey, Emma King, Ryan Lopez, Zachary Malcolm, Samantha McCloskey, Natalie Mileszko, Steven Ott, Jake Peters, John Lee-Pesotski, Abigail Regn, Tommy Scarpello, Melanie Weaver and Nick Yannessa.
