by Sylene Argent
Though being a top student may not get the same instant recognition an athlete may experience on the field, those who excel in academic subjects certainly earned the right to be honoured for their success. On the evening of Tuesday, November 20, top Essex District High School students were recognized for their outstanding achievements during annual Academic Awards Night.
The top students, their family members, and EDHS staff attended the banquet at the Ciociaro Club. During the banquet, the local secondary school’s 2017 honour roll students, who had an average above 80 percent, the students on the Principal’s List, having earned an average over 90 percent, and the students who earned Subject Awards, were honoured.
In addition, the Proficiency Awards earners were announced. These students, through their commitment to their studies, earned the overall highest marks in their class. The 2017 Proficiency Award winners included Paige Miehls for grade nine, Priscilla Dyck for grade 10, and Melinda Kovacs for grade 11.
“I like learning and enjoy the actual knowledge of things, not just getting high marks,” Dyck said, who enjoyed earning the proficiency award for the second year in a row.
Dyck enjoys extending her knowledge to others through the school’s peer tutoring program, and also likes being a member of the Rotary Interact Club and the soccer team. She is most attentive in her anthropology, sociology, and psychology classes, which she hopes to use as a foundation to study behaviour cognition and neuroscience, post-secondary.
Keeping busy helps Dyck to manage her time wisely and avoid procrastinating.
Miehls said she likes asking questions and deepening her understanding of school subjects.
In the classroom, Miehls’s favourite subject is history. “I like making inferences and I get to ask a lot of questions. I like learning about Canada and how it shaped us today,” she said.
In the future, Miehls would love to study history at the university level, then work in criminal law.
Miehls is also busy with extracurricular activities. She is a peer tutor, is on the Rotary Interact Club, and plays badminton, basketball, and baseball.
Kovacs, the grade 11 Proficiency Award winner, also earned the recognition in grade nine. She enjoys learning about functions and chemistry. “I like the concept of understanding things and applying them,” she said.
Outside of school, Kovacs tutors and volunteers at the Windsor-Essex Therapeutic Riding Association.
Kovacs is hoping to study biology and science post-secondary, with the aspiration of one day becoming a veterinarian.
All three winners were pleasantly surprised when they learned they earned the proficiency award for their academic achievements last year. They noted they always try their best, but getting that top position is difficult.
Kovacs, Miehls, and Dyck agreed it is nice to have an academic banquet to honour top students and recognize the work they put into their studies all school-year long.