by Sylene Argent
On the evening of Tuesday, November 19, the Essex District High School (EDHS) students who earned honor roll, or an average at or above 80 percent, status in 2018 were recognized for their outstanding achievements during the annual Academic Awards Night, the banquet was hosted at the Ciociaro Club.
In addition to the honour roll students, those who made the Principal’s List, having earned an average over 90 percent, and the students who earned school subject awards were also honoured and recognized for the outstanding achievements they accomplished inside the classroom.
During the event, the Proficiency Award earners were also announced. These students, through their commitment to their studies, earned the overall highest marks in their class. The 2018 Proficiency Award Winners included Priscilla Dyck for grade 11, Milan Lobana for grade 10, and Edua Marczinko for grade nine.
Dyck is no stranger to earning the top academic award in her class as this is the third year in-a-row she achieved the top status. In her grade 11 year, she earned a 98 percent average. She is using that momentum as a motivator to continue studying hard in her grade 12 year at EDHS, in hopes of possibly taking home the award for a fourth time.
Though Dyck sets out to challenge herself to just do her best, and is not driven by the awards, she said it is a great honour to be recognized for her academic achievements as she works very hard to attain the best grades she can.
In the classroom, Dyck especially enjoyed her biology and the intro to anthropology, psychology, and sociology classes.
Looking past graduation this spring, Dyck said she is thinking of wanting to study at the university level to become a public health educator.
Lobana earned a 96.6 percent average in his grade ten year at EDHS. He said he especially enjoyed the math and biology classes, and admitted to thinking the evolution and genetics units were pretty cool.
To do well on tests, Lobana said he used quizzes to study from, which certainly seemed to help.
Lobana said he is considering a career in neurology as he finds this subject fascinating.
Before Marczinko entered grade nine, she said her principal at Colchester North Public School expected great things from her. Hearing that was a great motivation for her. So, when she reached high school, she studied as hard as she could.
In her grade nine year, she particularly enjoyed the geography and general science courses, where she took an interest in the astronomy unit.
A big part of her success is just keeping focused and committed to her study habits.
Though Marczinko is still pretty fresh on the high school scene, she said she finds border control of interest and may consider a career in that field in the future.
All three of EDHS’s 2018 proficiency winners noted they like to surround themselves with other students who work hard at their academic studies, too. This helps them learn from one another and keep each other motivated to keep doing well. They also noted it is important to do other things, such as join a sports team or a club at the school, to continue doing well academically.