Academic Awards Night was held this past Wednesday, April 27. Everyone enjoyed the refreshments before the event and the celebrations after. The awards handed out at the ceremony consisted of Honor Roll, Academic Dean’s List, Principal’s List, Seniors with Honors, Seniors with Highest Honors, and several individual awards.

From our own publication, senior Austin Boynes received the News Writing Award for Journalism. Austin appreciated this recognition, knowing that he put in a lot of work to receive this award. “It honestly means a lot to me knowing that the work I put in day in and day out is being recognized, but I definitely would not have made it this far without the help of my teachers and classmates looking over everything with me.”

Austin also talked about the process of writing impressive articles. “It is a long process of writing articles from getting news sources, gathering information, editing, and proofreading with the class.” Austin hopes to continue pursuing journalism in the future. ”I will still be working in the field as I am majoring in Journalism at Temple University in the fall.” 

Senior Josh Young received multiple awards on Wednesday night, and had some favorites. “My favorite awards are those not directly related to GPA or test scores. One that stood out to me was the Maryland All-State band award for trumpet. I put months of preparing into this, and being recognized by others for that is especially rewarding.”

Josh reminisced about the awards where he got to walk up with his friends. “I also enjoyed those awards where I could go up on stage with my friends to receive it. I value collaboration, and I realize that any success I’m being recognized for is because of the support of those walking up with me.” Josh also acknowledges the school for having events like these. “Hard work is definitely a must, so I appreciate the school for taking the time to recognize us for it.” Josh will be heading to Yale University in the fall to study chemistry.

Junior Michael Metz was a standout at the award ceremony. He received many awards, including a college scholarship award. The awards he received “really meant a lot to me, they kinda reassure me that working hard in school pays off.”

Michael thought the college scholarship award was the most important to him. “It is making college as affordable as possible for my parents since they are willing to pay for my tuition.” He admires the great influence DeMatha has had on him to receive these awards. “The work is hard, but DeMatha is a good place, so hard work isn’t something that is extremely difficult.”