North Hills Middle School celebrates Class of 2030 at annual awards ceremony

North Hills Middle School’s annual Eighth Grade Academic Awards Assembly was held on Friday, May 29. Traditionally held on the last day of school, students are given awards for not only academic achievement but for displaying the characteristics that make up the pillars of the school’s Strong as Steel positive behavior reinforcement program.

For each eighth grade team, an award is given to two students in the core subjects of English, Math, Social Studies and Science. Additionally, students are chosen for each team’s Breakthrough Scholar, Most Diligent Worker and Mr. Rogers Good Neighbor awards.

Departmental awards are given to students for band, orchestra, chorus, tech ed, art, computer science, literacy arts, health, and world languages, among others.

Musical groups also perform during the event and students who achieve highest honors during the school year are recognized. Mackenzie Cyrus served as this year’s eighth grade student speaker. William Thiel was the poet laureate and Dakota Miller was the student artist.

The awards assembly is organized each year by eighth grade teachers Vicki Truchan and Joe Welch. Students do not know ahead of time that they have won, adding to the fun of the event. Parents typically attend.

Congratulations to our Class of 2030 winners:

Principals' Awards

• Strong as Steel Award: Rocco Biondo, Max Snyder, Amata Conners
• Student of Distinction Award: Sam Hatalsky, Ava Williams, Peter McCartney

Team Awards

Team Westinghouse

• English: Gracie Alder, Luke Johnston
• Social Studies: Colton Peck, Peryn Geitner
• Math: Makenzie Cyrus, Reid Kozusko
• Science: Mikayla McAtee, Ryan Nolan
• Breakthrough Scholar: Landon Raver, Evey Sherbo
• Most Diligent Worker: Coop Moriconi, Lucas De Carvalho Cordeiro
• Mr. Rogers Good Neighbor Award: Owen Hurley, Faith Mangel

Team Carnegie

• English: Harper Daugherty, Evan Horn
• Social Studies: Parker Kaminski, Sophia Murrer
• Math: Otis Ittigson, Eleanora Byrne
• Science: Madelyn Blodgett, Camryn Knochel
• Breakthrough Scholar: Ana De Oliveira Pires, Alaina Magana
• Most Diligent Worker: Madelyn Miller, Abbigail Hollack
• Mr. Rogers Good Neighbor Award: Melanie Bechtold, Allison Gilbert

Team Heinz

• English: Blake Bemis, Mandy Heidinger
• Math: Anthony Hunt, Regan Schall
• Social Studies: Rebecca Gielen, Josh Barr
• Science: Finn Lionetti, Maeve Andrews
• Breakthrough Scholar: William Dietz, Naomi Suto
• Most Diligent Worker: Olivia Wilson, Zoe Seegmiller
• Mr. Rogers Good Neighbor Award: Rocco Manganaro, Sadie Schaar

Departmental Awards

• Math Lab: Natalie Ahlers, Abby Rodeheaver
• ESL/ELL: Lakshmi Castillo
• Band: Sarah Rodina, Anne Lavelle
• Orchestra: Isabelle Brown, Jason Zhou
• Chorus: Ellie Fairbanks, Derrick Jenkins
• Music: Benjamin Suhendi, William Hillegas
• Tech Ed: Avery Sorge, Brody Van Dyke
• Sustainable Engineering: Abigail Chauvin, Dean Dixon
• Family & Consumer Science: Bria Kappas, Charles Zebley
• Art: Katt Neil, Jamie Tripodi
• Digital Art: Lily Kuza, Leeanne Alexander
• Next Level Fitness: Max Lyons, Xavier Simelis
• Health: Alexa Crowley, Derek Marker
• Literacy Arts: James Farmer, Kameron McKelvey
• GATE: Leila Belletti, Bailen Meyercheck
• Computer Science: Olivia Dunlap, Jake Palermo
• German: Vincent Gibson, Ryan McPoland
• French: Richa Shah, Quinn Sekerak
• Spanish: Rian Smith, Isabella Powell

Special Awards

• Everyday Excellence Award: Luciano Studeny
• Perseverance and Progress Award: Jace Harvey
• Interesting Fact Award: Elijah Hunt
• Confidence in Bloom Award: Cordelia Kearns
• Perfectly Positive Award: Penny Katke
• Online Academy Award: Colin Hagy
• Leadership Award: Keegan McElhinney