The Tyrone Area School District will hold its annual Senior Excellence Awards program on Tuesday evening to recognize members of the upcoming graduating class. Some of the students will also receive scholarships from community groups, private organizations and local businesses.
Senior High School principal Rebecca Erb explained one of the reasons the district created the event was to allow parents to attend. Other presentations to recognize students occur in the day when many parents would not have the opportunity to be present.
The event will be attended by not only students and parents, but also teachers, administrators, members of the school board and community members.
“We developed this as a way to recognize students with their parents in attendance,” said Rebecca Erb, Tyrone’s Senior High School principal.
Erb was also thankful for the community leaders who make the scholarships possible each year.
“We have now exceeded more than $13,000 dollars in scholarships to be awarded this year,” said Erb. “These awards are a surprise to the students who receive them.
“The administration looks forward to the event in recognizing the achievements of the graduating class,” said Erb. “We also look forward to the parents being there as well.”
Some of the highlights of the evening will include awards for three students who have obtained the highest cumulative grade-point average since ninth grade. Awards will be presented for Valedictorian and Salutatorian.
Also being recognized will be students who have received a grade-point average of 3.5 or better during grades nine through 12. The students have earned the title of Tyrone Area High School Honor group and also are receiving the President’s Education award.
Scholarship awards will then be presented to numerous students who will be recognized for various achievements.
Among the awards are the Watchter Foundation Award from the Verneda A. and Leo J. Watchter, Sr. Foundation. The scholarship in the amount of $1,500 is presented to a senior who reflects all-around scholarly accomplishments.
Other scholarships will be awarded by several different community organizations including the Tyrone Area Education Association, Albermarle Inc., as well as several scholarships from the Tyrone Renaissance Education Foundation.
Two of those awards will go to two seniors for their achievements on the PSSA tests. A $100 scholarship will be presented to a member of the Class of 2004 who over-achieved to the highest degree on the 11th grade reading, writing and math PSSAs. The district defines an over-achiever as a student whose course grades indicate that he or she might not fulfill their potential on the test but who overcame the odds by placing high among classmates.
Also receiving a scholarship in the PSSA category will be the student who was the highest over-all achiever on the PSSA exams for the Class of 2004.
Many other scholarships will be presented on Tuesday night and a complete list will appear in a future edition of The Daily Herald.
Tuesday night’s program is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. There will be a social just prior to the event at 6:30 p.m
