In a ceremony held in Newkirk Auditorium, Harrells Christian Academy’s Middle School recognized those students who achieved a level of excellence in academics and other areas this past year. Beth Griffin, Head of Middle and Lower Schools, presided over the ceremony, and Junior Beta Club officers Rhylee Pope (President), Ayden Fussell (Vice President), and Kennedy Thompson (Secretary) assisted.

Awards for the highest academic average in each core subject area were presented to the following students:

Sixth grade — Amber Jones for Language Arts, Math, and Science; Coleton Norris for Social Studies. 7th grade: Matthew Thornton for Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. 8th grade: Rhylee Pope for Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Spanish I; Lekea Boney for Science; and Diego Fleury for French I.

Awards for distinction in Christian character and citizenship were voted on by the middle school faculty and presented by Headmaster Kevin Kunst:

Sixth grade: Coleton Norris; seventh grade: Emily Anne Barnette; Eigth grade: Henry Moore.

Kunst also presented the middle school’s highest honor — the Middle Crusader Award, given to an eighth grader who best exemplifies academic integrity and diligence, school spirit, and service. This year’s Middle Crusader Award went to Rhylee Pope.

Current sixth and seventh grade students were recognized for qualifying for the Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP) by scoring in the 95th percentile of the state on one or more standardized tests in the previous year. Of these, Aeryal Lewis and Latham Waters participated in the early ACT testing opportunity offered by the program.

Sixth grade — Jack Bowker, Michaiah Carson, Georgia Forrest Cavenaugh Eakins, Paige Johnson, Amber Jones, Sydney Jorgenson.

Seventh grade — Aeryal Lewis, Connor Spell, Meredith Tatum, Jack Barber, Elizabeth Blackburn, Charlize Bryan, James Fussell, Isabella Rumbold, Ty Smoak, Latham Waters.

A special Patriotism Award was presented to Jake Moore and Gray Melvin, for their dedicated commitment to raising the American flag at the front of the school each morning and carefully folding and storing it each afternoon when school gets out.

Three students were recognized for their participation in this year’s library competitions:

Elizabeth Blackburn and Harrison DeVane, Battle of the Books

Ty Smoak, Geography Bee (winner, competed at the state level)

An outstanding achiever in each elective course was presented with a plaque:

For Art, Trey Lennon; for Biotechnology, Gray Melvin; for Creative Writing, Jaden Naylor; for Entrepreneurial Studies, Raelyn Fryar; for Music, Jakob Funes; and for Sports Information, Ayden Fussell.

Extra Effort in an Academic Subject was the next category of awards, recognizing students who showed remarkable interest and improvement in a given subject. “These students always ask questions, work hard, show up early, or stay late for help,” said Griffin.

Sixth grade — Jakob Funes, Language Arts; Michaiah Carson, Math; Maggianna Rivenbark, Science; Laura Beth Russ, Social Studies.

Seventh grade — Caroline Barnhill, Language Arts; Isabella Rumbold, Math; Forrester Spears, Science, Hannah Cole, Social Studies.

Eighth grade — Savannah Boykin, Language Arts; Savannah Dixon, Math; Natalie Cline, Science; Lekea Boney, Social Studies; Sarah Beth Moore, French I; Olivia Toler, Spanish I.

Finally, for extra effort in the Learning Center, Angie Wachter presented her “Extra Mile Award” to Natalie Cline for Language Arts and to Victoria Davis for Math.

Rhylee Pope
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_crusader_rhyleepope.jpgRhylee Pope

Academic Achievement honors
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_teacherawards.jpgAcademic Achievement honors

Coleton Norris, Emily Anne Barnett, Henry Moore
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_christiancharacter.jpgColeton Norris, Emily Anne Barnett, Henry Moore

By Judith Kunst

Harrells Christian Academy