Scholarships and more given at CCHS Awards Program

School District 166 held its Awards and Scholarship Program on Monday, May 21. Students, teachers, community members and proud parents and grandparents gathered in the Pam Taylor Gymnasium to see Cook County students receive recognition. 

Nearly 40 different awards were given for athletics and academics for a variety of grade levels, but the event primarily announced the many scholarships earned by members of the Class of 2019. Click here to see a WTIP Facebook photo album of the event. 

Principal Megan Myers and Assistant Principal Mitch Dorr welcomed all and expressed pride in the many students being honored on this special day.  Presenters from various community organizations took turns at the microphone then, calling students forward for recognition. See the list below for the overall presentations. 

Of note are two new awards, the “Helping Hands” scholarship from Sue and Bruce Kerfoot. Bruce Kerfoot explained that Cook County has been very good to his family and told graduates, “If you hustle, it will be good to you as well!” 

Kerfoot said he and Sue wanted to give something back to this community and decided a scholarship was a good way to do that. Levi Sheils was the recipient of the “Helping Hands” $5,000 scholarship. 

He also issued a challenge to all of the members of the Class of 2019. He asked them to sit down and calculate the cost of a college (or Vo-Tech) class. He told them to keep that figure in mind on days when they did not feel up to getting to class. That is what would be going to waste, Kerfoot said. 

Another new scholarship was the Wesley J. Morris Memorial Scholarship, given in memory of the former Schroeder resident who passed away in 2017. Presenting the award, to recipient Elsa Lunde, was School Counselor Brad Shannon.

An inaugural award was given this year, the Grand Portage Athlete of the Year Award. Assistant Principal—and Athletic Director—Mitch Dorr presented the award noting the commitment it takes for Grand Portage students to be involved in sports at CCHS. With no late bus, students must arrange transportation for practice and games. The first award, a nice trophy, went to Joe Deschampe. 

The Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation once again brightened the future of a number of CCHS graduates with full scholarships to Lake Superior College. On hand were Joan Gardner-Goodno, Rachel Forsyth and Bill Hansen of the Foundation to present scholarships to Dyami Blackwell, Jaymee Dossey, Sophie Eliasen, Luke Johnson, Andrea Larsen, and Cecelia Swader.

Underclass students were not left out—there were awards for Robotics and Envirothon participants, Academic Excellence Awards, sports participation awards and the Zinter Math & Science Awards.

Assistant Principal Mitch Dorr announced the Class of 2019 valedictorian and salutatorian, explaining that those traditional roles are a bit different this year. This year there are two, or co-valedictorians—Leif Anderson and Will Surbaugh. 

Dorr said normally one would be valedictorian and the other, salutatorian. However, they both have taken nontraditional ways to finish their final year of high school Leif Anderson has already completed a full year of college studies. And Will Surbaugh has completed his degree requirements and is graduating a year ahead of time. 

For that reason, Dorr said, School District 166 decided to have them share valedictorian duties and there would be another salutatorian, Jack Peck. He said all three of the graduates deserved that recognition. 

Assistant Principal Dorr said, “We don’t talk about the value and importance of good choices enough.” 

He thanks students for their hard work and for making those hard choices. 

Click here to see the list of scholarship and award recipients. 

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence was there and caught up with some of the graduates after the awards program.
Click below to hear a report.