By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
The eighth grade class at Mack Lyon Middle School, more than 140 students strong, filed two-by-two into the school gymnasium on Thursday night to participate in the school’s annual Eighth Grade Advancement program.
The bleachers and seats in the gym were nearly filled with enthusiastic parents, siblings, family members and friends to support the students. And the program exhibited much for them to be proud of.
Kyra Larsen called the meeting to order and officiated over a flag salute and the playing of the National Anthem; which was performed by an ensemble of Lyon Orchestra students.
Lyon principal Ken Paul then welcomed students and audience alike. He encouraged the eighth graders in their paths forward toward a new realm of high school.
“When you are in elementary school and middle school, it seems like the end of school is a long time away,” Paul said. “But at this point you are entering high school and things will suddenly start moving a lot faster. It is just four years and it will go by in a flash. You should take advantage of it. There will be lots of opportunities to get involved, to learn and to have fun. Go into it all the way!”
First to be recognized were all of the eighth grade members of the school’s student council. In addition, the 21 members of the National Junior Honor Society were called forward and presented with certificates for their efforts.
Dennis Vance of the American Legion Post 75 then presented the winners of the American Legion scholarship. This award went to Annabel Lounsbury and Ivan Reel.
Scott Adams of the Moapa Valley Rotary Club presented that organization’s Character award. He explained that the award was given to a student who had shown strong character traits through the pursuit of truth, through being fair to all, building good will with fellow students and having a desire for outcomes that are beneficial to all. The award was presented to Rylin Tobler.
Paul then presented the McDonald’s citizenship award on behalf of Overton McDonald’s officials. This award was presented to Jeanee Freeman.
Next Paul announced the recipients of the President’s Education Award. Established in 1983, this award is given each year to recognize outstanding academic achievement, Paul said.
The award has two divisions. The silver award is given to students earning a grade point average of between 3.5 and 3.79. The gold award goes to students with a GPA of 3.8 – 4.0. A total of 23 in the class of 143 earned the silver award while 24 students earned the higher gold award.
Eight students were recognized for receiving straight A’s for all three years of middle school. These included Sierra Holzer, Ashlee James, Annabel Lounsbury, Emilie Lyon, Hannah Mayo, Trevor Nelson and Kayli Thompson.
For achieving the most Accelerated Reading points, Hunter Kelly won the school’s Reading Award. Kayli Thompson was awarded with the Math Award. And the Academic Award for outstanding achievement throughout middle school went to Ashlee James and Trevor Nelson.
In a presentation of the Technology Award, science teacher Elwin Brown recognized the school’s Future Cities team which, for the first time in history, won the state competition and participated at the nationals in Washington DC. The team consisted of Robert Bradford, Romeo Elenes, Emily Macias and Zoe Zubia. Brown awarded Emily Macias with the Technology award. The school’s Science award went to Annabel Lounsbury.
Service awards were presented to Mckenzie Caldwell and Cayson McClure. McClure was the only student of the evening to take over the microphone for a brief acceptance speech. He recognized his parents and hoped they were proud of him.
English teacher Paula Chappell presented the English Writing award to Kayli Thompson saying, “Her writing stood out every time we wrote an essay!”
Leadership awards were presented to Patricia Slaughter and Gabriel Leavitt.
The Excellence in Effort award is given to students who exert 100 percent of their efforts no matter what, Chappell said. “They may not always be the ones to make straight A’s, but they give it everything they’ve got,” she added. This award was presented to Faith Witter and Dylan Wood.
The History award was presented to Ivan Reel. The Fine Arts award went to Hanna Watson. The Citizenship award was presented to Brittnee Leavitt and Henry Patino.
Paul then presented the Mustang Pride award. He explained that the recipients were chosen by a vote of their peers based on who showed the most school spirit, helped others and led by example. The award went to Kyra Larson and Anson Call.
Finally, the 21st Century Scholar awards were given to Emilie Lyon and Gabriel Leavitt.
The name of each student in the eight grade class was then called one by one. Each one came up to the stand to receive a certificate of accomplishment for completing middle school.
The evening ended with a slide show featuring photos of each class member as a baby. This photo was then morphed into a current 8th grade photo. As each photo appeared on the screen cheers went up from friends and families in the audience in support of the student.
