By Kari Lucin
Daily Globe
WORTHINGTON -- More than 240 middle-schoolers were honored for their academic performance Friday through the Renaissance program at the Worthington Middle School.
"This is about recognizing you all for striving for excellence," said WMS principal Jeff Britten to the assembled students. "All too often, we forget to recognize you and all the hard work you do every day."
Jostens, the company that sells class rings, started the Renaissance program in cooperation with educators in 1988. It's intended to honor students who excel in academics and encourage students to support each other in their academic efforts.
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"The middle school is really about well-rounded individuals," Britten said.
Though the term "renaissance man" isn't used much anymore, it still designates someone who has a broad range of knowledge in many subject areas -- just like the middle-schoolers who get good grades across the board.
The young Renaissance men and women at WMS could receive gold awards if they achieved a 4.0 grade point average, and silver awards if they had 3.5 to 3.99 GPAs. Students with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.49 got a bronze award, and students with a GPA between 2.33 and 2.99 received Bronze II awards, provided their grades improved since the last quarter.
Improving students were also honored with Hi-5 awards, given to those with a 2.0 to 2.329 GPA who had improved their GPA by .5 since the previous quarter.
The awards came with swag and privileges. Bronze and higher winners got Renaissance T-shirts and one free assignment for a day without homework in one class. Silver and gold winners could even have a free test or quiz, and students who won gold awards got a free sub coupon from Subway.
Winners at all levels got a privilege punch card that would allow them to be dismissed early for lunch or get a special treat on a designated day.
Sixth-graders got special honors Friday from Nancy Antoine, principal of Prairie Elementary, who praised them for their excellent test results of last year. The results helped Prairie make adequate yearly progress and took the school off the state watch list, restoring the school's star rating to four stars out of five.
"I'm extremely proud of you," Antoine said.
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The following students received gold awards: Larry Leovan, Carolyn Lovan, Alysia Synavone, Jocelyn Martinez, Megan Blanchard, Cheniqua Johnson, Elizabeth Luke, Sean Seres and Mi Huynh, all sixth-graders; Logan Abrego, Heather Loy, Travis Vuong, Claire Bents, Matthew Sorensen, Mariah Haffield, Hannah Mick and Anna Tims, all seventh-graders; Nicole Janssen, Genevieve Bern, Ellen Dudley and Stephanie Pavelko, all in eighth grade.
Look for the list of students achieving silver, bronze and Hi-5 awards on next Saturday's education page.
