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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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Martinsville Schools on Wednesday recognized 16 seniors who have earned a 4.0 GPA or higher and presented them with Superintendent’s Cords. Pictured with guest speaker Travis Wells (center), a 1990 graduate of MHS, are students (from left) Emily Wimmer, Taylor Eanes, Lauren McGarry, Rachel DeBusk, Meredith Seamon, Megan Herndon, Brittany Thomas, Jillian Rinaldi, Dana Mahoney, Lateka Wooten, Colin Welch (back row), Keedra Jones, Will Treadway, Brandon Martin, Brooke Hairston, and Sara Kasey. (Contributed photo by Kim Barto) |
Thursday, January 28, 2010
By ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer
Sixteen seniors at Martinsville High School were honored Wednesday for maintaining 4.0 grade point averages or better throughout their years in high school.
Generally speaking, a 4.0 GPA indicates all As, with each A worth 4 points. However, some classes at MHS are weighted, said school spokesperson Kim Barto. That means As in certain classes, such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses, could earn students more than 4 points. For that reason, some of the students honored had GPAs higher than 4.0, Barto said.
The seniors and their parents were invited to a Superintendent’s Breakfast at Chatmoss Country Club on Wednesday morning. Travis Wells, a 1990 graduate of the high school who now is sports anchor for WDBJ7 television station in Roanoke, was the speaker.
All of the students gathered at the breakfast could be defined as “uncommon,” Wells said.
“According to Webster’s Dictionary, ‘uncommon’ means something not ordinarily encountered,” he said. “To me, it can also mean something not everyone else is doing, and also not doing what everyone else is doing.”
Wells encouraged all of the students to strive to do something uncommon this week, whether it is helping someone else study or volunteering in the community.
“Follow your dreams — just make sure they’re your own, not someone else’s or society’s,” he added.
Superintendent Scott Kizner said the students honored were part of the first class to graduate with higher graduation standards. Four years ago, Martinsville Schools voluntarily decided to increase graduation requirements, Barto said.
Math, foreign language and technology requirements all were increased, said Kizner, and 40 hours of community service became a graduation requirement.
Those standards went into place when the current seniors were freshmen, so maintaining 4.0 GPAs was even more challenging, Kizner said.
In addition to higher graduation standards, many of the 16 students are enrolled in the Piedmont Governor’s School, AP courses or the ACE program, said MHS Principal Tom Fitzgibbons. The ACE program allows high school students to take courses at Patrick Henry Community College and earn associate degrees by the time they graduate from high school.
Britney Thomas, 18, said she has taken governor’s school classes and AP courses and is in the ACE program. In addition to those academic achievements, she also played the saxophone in the marching band and jazz band.
Another student with a 4.0 GPA, Brooke Hairston, 18, said she took AP courses and participated in cheerleading, marching band, cheerleading for PHCC and softball.
Fitzgibbons said that although he knows all 16 students are performing well in the classroom, he also appreciates how much he sees them in other parts of the school.
“I see these students on sports teams, participating in extracurricular activities, and I also know that all of them have already applied to college,” he said.
Like Hairston, Jillian Rinaldi, 18, said she was in marching band as well as cheerleading. To juggle both responsibilities during Friday night football games, she would cheer for the game and then go out on the field to play with the band during half-time, she said. Rinaldi said that maintaining a 4.0 throughout the past four years has been hard work because she also was active in church and took dance lessons, in addition to cheering and marching band.
“There have been ups and downs,” she said, “but it has been a journey.”
Rinaldi, like most other high school seniors, is waiting to hear from colleges. Her top choices are Wake Forest University, the University of Virginia and James Madison University, she said.
Keedra Jones, 17, said, “it has been hard to maintain a 4.0 GPA, but you can’t let your situation define who you are. You have to strive to be more than the norm.”
Martinsville High School seniors honored Wednesday were Rachel DeBusk, Taylor Eanes, Brooke Hairston, Megan Herndon, Keedra Jones, Sara Kasey, Dana Mahoney, Brandon Martin, Lauren McGarry, Jillian Rinaldi, Meredith Seamon, Brittany Thomas, Will Treadway, Colin Welch, Emily Wimmer and Lateka Wooten. |
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