Sara Sandstrom, Nederland. What a joy it was to see Nederland High School seniors and their families together in the high school gymnasium for the Senior Banquet on May 21, 2021. A privilege after so many months of not gathering together.
The mood was festive as Nederland Middle Senior High School Principal Rick Elertson welcomed the families. They sat at beautifully decorated tables in the gym with banners and balloons celebrating the graduates.
Principal Elertson, Vice Principal/Athletic Director Mr. Doudna, teachers Ms. Yakubov, Ms. Redmon, Mr. Mabbett, Ms. Evans, Mr. Geels, and Ms. Kinczel presented awards and scholarships to the graduates. Then all the seniors stood at a long table and signed their Senior Declarations. Some of the seniors are starting in the work force immediately and some will be attending college in the fall. All paths are valued and all paths are important to how our society functions.
Oftentimes these ceremonies focus on the students who achieve high grade point averages consistently throughout high school and to the best athletes. These students absolutely deserve to be recognized. The teachers at Nederland High School also make a point to recognize students who excel in each subject, but maybe not necessarily achieve the highest grade.
We all need to give a shout out to all the students who work so hard to graduate from high school and do not get much recognition. For some English is not their first language. For some there are huge challenges at home. For some school is just hard. These students deserve the loudest of applause and cheers.
After all the awards, letters and pins and National Honor Society cords were handed out, all the seniors were given a gift and a cake from the school.
Nederland’s Class of 2021 chose the sunflower as their class flower. The sunflower has different meanings, a few of which are strength, positivity, good luck and happiness. Class of 2021, throughout all of your life carry that sunflower with you.
Awards
Friends of Nederland Award
Kimberly and Mark Patterson
Athletic Awards
MVP – Parker Newby
MVP – Elysia Nitsch
Scholar Athlete – Parker Newby
Scholar Athlete – Elysia Nitsch
Most Improved Athlete – Madeline Prince
Most Improved Athlete – Parker Newby
Senior Academic Department Awards
Outstanding Senior in Science – Dante Lanthier and Rylee Kutscher
Outstanding Senior in Spanish – Meagan Figgins
Future Psychologist Award – Sydney Mayhew
Outstanding Senior in Language Arts – Elysia Nitsch
Art – MUG Award – Dante Lanthier
Construction/Engineering, Persistent Builder – Sydney Nation
Golden Baton Leadership Award – Sydney Mayhew, Meagan Figgins, Aspen Abel
“Not all who wander are lost” Award – Alex Voymas
Outstanding Senior in Mathematics – Meagan Figgins
Outstanding Thinker – Brady Hamilton
Senior Who Has Made A Difference Award – Sydney Mayhew
Academic Awards
Letter Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher for 1 year
Aspen Abel
Zahra Craig
Sydney Nation
Bar Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher for 2 years
Dante Lanthier
Madeline Prince
Star Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher for 3 years
Clementine Miler
Lamp of Knowledge Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher for 4 years
Peter Breche
Meagan Figgins
Jamieson Graves
Rylee Kutscher
Sydney Mayhew
Parker Newby
Elysia Nitsch
Scholarships
Lions Club Scholarship
Parker Newby $1500
Rylee Kutscher $1500
Geels/Howarth Academic Excellence Award
Rylee Kutscher – $500
Elysia Nitsch – $500
We of Me Award/Teens Inc
Elysia Nitsch $1000
Aspen Abel – CSU Pueblo “Welcome to the Pack Award” – $2000.00
Peter Breche – Western Select Scholarship $54,528 – Western Colorado University
Meagan Figgins – CU Esteemed Scholars-Hale $14000 in total, Regent Scholarship $1000 in total
James Kaye – Bear scholarship for $6,000 from Univ. of Northern Colorado
Rylee Kutscher – Green and Gold Scholarship $3000 CSU, Montana State University Achievement Award $40,000, President James H. Baker Award $10,000 CU Boulder
Sydney Mayhew – Lewis and Clark President’s Scholarships $120,000, Trinity University – President’s Scholarships $120,000, Trinity University – Legacy Scholarship $1,000, Appalachian State University – Merit Scholarships $1,000
Clementine Miller – Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) $51,234, University of Montana
Parker Newby – Provost Award $1,000, Boulder Rotary Club $1,000
Madeline Prince – $32,000 Montana State University
Honor Society Cords
Meagan Figgins
Rylee Kutscher
Sydney Mayhew
Elysia Nitsch
Senior Declaration
Aspen Abel – Colorado State University
Alexandra Berumen Gonzalez – Career First-Cosmetology
Samuel Boswell – Career First-Lincoln Hills Fishing Club-teaching fly fishing/ guide
Peter Breche – Western Colorado University
Zahra Craig – Gap year then college
Michael Crapsey – Career First
Meagan Figgins – CU-Boulder
Jamieson Graves – CU Boulder
Brady Hamilton – Front Range
James Kaye – University of Northern Colorado
Rylee Kutscher – Colorado State University
Dante Lanthier – Western Washington University
Sydney Mayhew – Trinity University
Clementine Miller – University of Montana
Sydney Nation – Career First
Parker Newby – Colorado School of Mines
Elysia Nitsch – Wellesley College
Madeline Prince – Montana State University
Alexander Voymas – Career First
(Originally published in the May 27, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
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