On April 29, staff members, students and parents gathered in the commons to honor some of the high school’s top scholars from the senior and junior classes. In addition, this year’s National Honor Society inductees were also recognized.

After a welcoming statement from Principal Tom Albertson, 2006 alumna Kendall Burt Roos addressed the student body. Burt Roos graduated in 2010 from the College of Idaho with a major in Biology and Chemistry, and finished her Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2014 from Idaho State University. She moved back to Sandpoint after receiving her Doctorate and is practicing pharmacy at Sandpoint Super Drug and is also a consultant pharmacist at the Sandpoint Surgery Center.

“I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that college is a breeze and everyone can do it in four years, but I am also not going to say that it’s all work, no fun, nose-to-the-grindstone. […] It’s a journey, and for me it was a really wonderful experience. It’s going to be filled with some of the best and the worst times of your life and you will say ‘I can’t do it,’ and then you’ll do it. If you persevere, I guarantee you will not have regrets,” Burt Roos said.

Burt Roos also mentioned five things she wished she would have known about college or done differently in preparation which included: researching more schools, applying for scholarships while in college, doing homework that was not required for a grade, taking advantage of extracurriculars, and making connections with professors.

Wendy Auld, the National Honors Society (NHS) adviser, introduced the proceedings for NHS, and announced the senior with the most volunteer hours.

“This past school year, the [NHS] students sitting around you contributed over 5,000 hours [of community service]. […] Our senior with the most volunteer hours is Alex Baker […] he has done all of his 200 hours on his own and he has been doing it at the Rock Climbing Gym and trail maintenance and building mountain bike trails,” Auld said.

About forty juniors, sophomores, and freshmen were inducted into NHS this year, which is a relatively large group. Lauren Orr, current President of NHS and Co-Valedictorian, called up the inductees for their pledge.

Caroline Suppiger, 2015-16 President of NHS announced the seniors who had been awarded titles based on the four pillars of NHS, and called the senior members up to receive their membership pins. Madi Sleyster was awarded the pillar of ‘Character,’ Jordan Garrett was awarded ‘Leadership,’ Alex Baker was awarded ‘Service’ and also received the NHS scholarship for his service hours, and Erika Marks was awarded ‘Scholarship.’

Derek Dickinson announced the junior class “Top Scholars,” which are students with a 4.0 GPA or above on the weighted scale, which is approximately 13 percent of the class.

Lastly, Jeralyn Mire and Cindy Albertson awarded Honor Cords to top scholars in the senior class. Students were presented with honor cords and a short biography was read by Tom Albertson upon announcing each student.

Jared Cooper, a senior who was honored in the ceremony said: “I worked really hard to keep my grades up, so yes, I did expect to get an Honor Cord […] I am so stoked.”

Inductees to National Honors Society, Honor Cord recipients, and Junior Top Scholars ended the night with group photos and a banquet provided by Sandpoint High School.