Senior Awards and Recognition

As I sat in ACMA's Performing Arts Center waiting for the Senior Awards and Recognition Ceremony to begin, I realized it was one of the last times I would be there. I was totally unprepared for the wellspring of emotion I felt, and fought to keep it from springing to the surface.

As the ceremony began and the senior class stats were shared, I felt an enormous amount of pride for these 82 young men and women, some of whom I know not at all, others who have accompanied Sarah on this journey for seven years now. It mattered not; I felt a connection to them all. Here are some of the reasons I celebrated for them:

• This class was awarded a total of $1.4 million in scholarships!
• All but five are attending college. What of these five? One will dance with the  Philadelphia Ballet; another is moving his already successful  photography business to New York City; one is joining the Air Force and will be serving our country in the military; another is teaching English in Costa Rica; and the last has been hired as an assitant producer for the locally-produced TV show, Portlandia. Not too shabby!

I had no expectation of Sarah receiving an award, so was thrilled when she became the recipient of this year's Book Arts Award. Mrs. Heymann, who is retiring this year, made some very nice remarks about Sarah in her introduction. She tried to keep us guessing as to who the actual recipient was, but I figured it out pretty quickly. The giveaways?

• Quiet student
• Positive work ethic, hard worker
• Book Arts piece was a Gold key winner in Scholastic Arts competition
• Member of the group whose dress won a Gold Key, as well
• Her Book Arts piece is currently on display in a professional art exhibit in Hillsboro

Added up, it was obvious that Sarah was the winner. Mrs. Heymann has always been supportive of and complimentary of Sarah and her Book Arts work. Indeed, Sarah does seem to have a real talent, an exactness, in that area. I was glad Mrs. Heymann was able to give her final Book Arts award to Sarah before she retired.

Many of Sarah's friends received awards, as well; one friend, Naomi, was named as the class Salutatorian. It made me feel proud that Sarah has been part of such a high-achieving circle.

A large part of the ceremony was the awarding of cords to be worn with cap and gown at Graduation. Sarah was presented with three (another proud moment!):

• Gold: National Honor Society
• Maroon: National Arts Honor Society
• White: Honor Scholar (at least a 3.5 GPA, A on Capstone, 60 hrs. community service, 2 years or more of a world language, completion of a pathway endorsement)

The only cord she didn't earn, since she took Spanish as her language, was the National Japanese Honor Society. Only two students earned all four cords. Pretty impressive!

Aside from awards, highlights of the assembly were a Slam poetry reading by Allison Stein and a performance by the unofficial Pep Band, consisting of good old Mr. Brandau, Katie PeBenito, and former ACMA student, Troy S. They were absolutely hilarious!

I wiped the tears from my eyes as I left the auditorium, so proud of my accomplished daughter, hoping I would be able to hold it together for Graduation, just a few days away.