Honors Night for the Class of 2022

Rylee Sinden, Staff Writer

Senior awards night is an annual event where scholarships and awards are given to many seniors. On Wednesday, May 18th many people gathered in the high school gym to see seniors honored. 

Graduating senior Jonathan Mikovits was awarded many different scholarships on Wednesday. Mikovits explains that “it was an honor to receive several scholarships. Each scholarship had different requirements and selection criteria. With that in mind, I am incredibly thankful to the different committees for selecting me as a recipient of their scholarship. Scholarships are an amazing opportunity to help assist in paying for college or help with future endeavors. Many of the scholarships awarded on Honors night were specific to Concord graduates. This makes the opportunity to receive a scholarship much higher for Concord seniors. Honors night, in general, is a great event that showcases the different accomplishments and recognizes the students for all their hard work.”

Lauren Gray, another graduating senior for the class of 2022, shares that “it was exciting to be there because you didn’t know what awards you were going to win until they called your name. I felt like it went very well and it felt nice to honor other students who won awards as well.” 

High school principal Ms. Price shares more about what honors night is: “Senior Awards Night is not so much an opportunity as it is a recognition of the accomplishments that seniors have achieved. Some of the awards are scholarships.  These scholarship opportunities are truly earned by the seniors. Concord High School students are well-prepared for moving on after graduation.  In order to apply for scholarships, a student must have acquired all of the criteria the scholarships list in order to apply.  For example, part of the application process may be an essay answering a question that is important to the university or organization giving the scholarship; students who have learned how to write well will be able to do this.  The criteria may be a certain GPA and/or rigorous class schedules that show the student can persist through challenges.”

Price also explains some different types of scholarships that are awarded. “Some of the awards are given ‘in recognition of’; seniors receiving this type of award have been nominated by a staff member according to the criteria that the award lists. Lastly, some of the awards are athletic awards.  These types of awards are earned by seniors who have been voted by coaches and others affiliated with the sports program to meet the criteria of the award to the fullest extent.”

The effect of this night helps students of Concord many years after graduating. “There are 38 CHS Class of 2022 students who did the work and completed applications for the scholarships they were qualified to receive.  The scholarship total for the CHS Class of 2022 is 1.2 million dollars,” Price says. She lastly gives her experience with senior awards night. “Senior Awards Night is one of our favorite parts of the graduation week process.  It makes all of us who have spent time with the departing students feel excited and happy for the future they have started to build for themselves.” 

Mrs. Otto is our counselor here at Concord. She helped arrange many of the scholarships and became a huge part of this night. Mrs. Otto explains that “the evening is special because it gives us a chance to recognize some of the amazing accomplishments achieved by our seniors.”

All seniors worked hard to create a bright future. “They worked hard for four years, persisted and met the challenges, and followed what we laid out for them to do — and it “paid off” literally!  Through the generosity of many former Concord graduates who have set up scholarships, community businesses, and the universities themselves, CHS graduates can continue to pursue their goals,” Ms. Price explains. The generosity of the members of our community is what makes it possible for seniors to earn many of these awards. We hope everyone enjoyed seeing these seniors honored in a unique way on Wednesday and look forward to underclassmen achieving such success in the future.