The Northview senior class of 2023 had no easy path to graduation. These students faced the pandemic of Covid-19 their freshman year, cutting their year short. As sophomores they were juggling the split schedule of two days per week cohorts and hybrid instruction, half in person and half virtual. However, these students have proven to excel time and time again even with this backset. These students have held their GPAs through it all.
Cum laude awards are given to students based on their grade point average (GPA). From highest to lowest, summa cum laude is awarded to those who obtained a 4.0 GPA or higher, Magna cum laude is received by students who earned between a 3.75 GPA and a 3.99 GPA. The last award being cum laude is given to those we held between a 3.50 to a 3.74 GPA.
Along with the cum laude awards, Award winners for each academic department at the high school were recognized In the American Sign Language department, Evan Arnold was named the department award winner.
“I feel honored. I’m really proud to have been able to represent the department that has helped to shape my life and future,” Arnold said. “My favorite thing about ASL was learning new signs as well as my incredible teacher, [Deregnaucourt]. She has truly opened my mind within the world of ASL and I would not be the person I am today without her guidance and support.”
Brendan Patterson, a vocal artist who has participated in Varsity Voices and Concert Choir all four years of high school and joined “From the Top” an Acapella group for two years, was recognized as the vocal music department award winner.
“I had a feeling it was going to be me because I’ve been active in all the music programs lately, but there’s a lot of other people who I thought could have gotten it,” Patterson said. “It’s easy to fall in love with choir when you get to make music with wonderful people everyday. I never found myself getting sick of it once.”
Former ROAR editor Victoria Witke won the English department award.
“On one of the last days [of school], Mrs.Whetstone pulled me aside into Mrs.Porters room, where the English teachers were waiting to tell me I earned the Shirley Vin Ehr Award and subsequently the English [department] award,” Witke said. “It was nice to be recognized, I love English and am grateful to have received both honors.”
David Snow won male athlete of the year award for the OK conference. Snow also was one of the Physical Education department award winners alongside Wayne Topp.
“It feels good. There were a lot of good candidates for it so knowing I was the one who was chosen means a lot,” Snow said. “The [athlete of the year] award came as a surprise especially with how many great athletes we have. When I found out, I was pretty ecstatic to say the least.”
Topp not only appreciated the award, he also was grateful for his physical education experience in general.
“My favorite thing [about the department] was the way coach Oshnock and Spetoskey made the class to help athletes build muscle and train properly for their next season,” Topp said. “It helped me be in better shape for football and track.”
Kate Nuffer is an athlete that participates in sports all year round. These sports include volleyball, basketball, lacrosse and track. Kate won female athlete of the year award for the OK conference.
“When I was up [for my awards] I was handed a picture frame which no one else was handed. I was listening to what [awards] they were giving me, and the first thing they said was ‘OK Conference athlete of the year award’ and I looked at my parents and they were tearing up,” Nuffer said. “I felt so accomplished at that moment. I’ve been striving for this goal since sophomore year and it felt like everything paid off.”
Not only did Nuffer dominate within athletics, she also maintained her GPA throughout high school and earned the Magna Cum Laude award.
“Playing sports helped out with getting good grades,” Nuffer said. “You can’t play if [you’re failing]. I was so competitive it only helped that I stayed competitive in my school work [to keep participating in sports].”
A total of 91 seniors obtained some sort of GPA recognition. Here is a finalized list of all the cum laude awardees. Congratulations to the class of 2023.
