Rotary Honors Night honors outstanding TRHS seniors
THREE RIVERS — For the 64th time, a number of outstanding Three Rivers High School seniors were honored for their academic, athletic, and scholarship achievements.
Thursday night, Three Rivers High School’s Performing Arts Center hosted the annual Rotary Honors Night ceremony, honoring a few dozen TRHS seniors with awards, scholarships and other special recognitions during the 80-minute ceremony.
One of the most significant awards given out during Thursday’s ceremony was the Most Representative Senior Award, given to one male and one female student for demonstrating respect, responsibility, resilience and leadership. The honor is voted on by faculty and staff out of every senior in the class, and are asked to select the two students who are most respected by their peers, teachers and administrators.
This year’s Most Representative Senior awards went to Chase Evans and Abigail Griffioen.
Following the faculty department awards and recognizing this year’s honor and highest-honor seniors, TRHS Principal Carrie Balk gave out the Principal’s Award, which she said recognizes students who “possess strength of character, promote citizenship and show a positive attitude towards classmates, school and community.” These awards went to Griffioen and Jacob Ballard.
Griffioen, Balk said, is an “outstanding student” at TRHS with a 4.01 grade point average, increasing her GPA each year of high school, which she said indicated a “progressive interest in personal growth.” Griffioen is enrolled in the Teacher Academy program with the county’s Career and Technical Education program, and plans to pursue a degree in elementary education.
“What truly sets Abby Griffioen apart from her peers is her kindness, good sense, hard work and overall positive attitude,” Balk said. “When I hand a diploma to a student when they cross the stage, I know they’ve earned the necessary credits. What I want in addition to this is to know that they will make a difference in this world, and Abby will no doubt do that.”
Ballard, Balk said, was an “all-around good guy,” and recognized his work with local youth wrestlers in the MYWAY program and his hard work as a high school wrestler in and out of the classroom. Balk said the eyes of underclassmen, middle school and elementary students are on him and that they look up to him.
“You’re so kindhearted and to put it into words, you’re a good human. As a parent, educator, community member and principal of this high school, there is nothing more important than being a good human – not your chemistry grade, not your wrestling stats,” Balk said. “You’ve made an impact on our school and community in a different yet profound way.”
In his address to the seniors on the PAC stage, Rotary President Jeff Middleton talked about why the numerous amounts of people who have names on the scholarships given out to the students gave them out in the first place. He said it’s because they love Three Rivers, and while some students may be planning on leaving, Middleton said at some point, the students may appreciate what they have in the moment.
“At some point, you’ll appreciate what you have, and all the supportive parents, teachers, coaches, group leaders, church leaders felt about you,” Middleton said. “Three Rivers isn’t very famous – we used to make fur coats, Continental Can was here and employed a lot of people, and a lot of other companies you’ve heard about – but what we manufacture here in Three Rivers is high school seniors.
“We manufacture a group of bright young men and women every year that go out into the world and live somewhere else. Some of you will come back here, most of you will not, but you are from Three Rivers, and take that when you go out into the world. There are a lot of people here that care about you and wish you well, some that have been dead since 1926, but they’re still concerned about our Three Rivers product – our seniors,” Middleton continued. “We’re proud of you all, and your parents are proud of you.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 ext. 22 or robert@threeriversnews.com.
Complete List of 2022 Rotary Honors Night Awardees/Scholarship Recipients
Awards
Class Officers: President Chase Evans, Vice President Caleigh Barth, Secretary Taylor Workman, Treasurer Rylie Glass, Historian Campbell Kleppert
Most Representative Seniors: Chase Evans, Abigail Griffioen
Department Awards:
Marketing: Phillip Wellman, Caleigh Barth
Foreign Language: Abigail Griffioen, Connor Quake
Band: Kylie Sterner, Sydney Hershberger
Online Department: Zoe McGlothlen, Hannah McGahan
Art: Anna Ives, Kyree Haseman
Vocal Music: Brody Fletcher, Maxine Levanduski
Math: Andy Dong, Omar Ortiz
English: Omar Ortiz, Sophia Bell
Science: Henry Veale, Emma Stasiuk
Social Studies: Shivi Patel, Max Levanduski
Physical Education: Charles Allen, Kayden Salinas
Family and Consumer Sciences: Pierce Rawlings-Fisher, Isaac Adams
Yearbook: Chase Evans, Emily Avery
Work-Based Learning: Phillip Wellman, Sophia Lyczynski
Honor Graduates: Addison Abnet, Emily Avery, Alexander Benthin, Brady Bissett, Jaciel Castro, Amanda Damewood, Kamden Ford, Garron Gahan, Gibsyn Gerkin, Sydney Hershberger, Noah Humbert, Anna Ives, Drew Keene, Riley Lewis, Nicholas Ludwig, Brooklyn Page, Gavin Palmer, Mackenzie Preston, Jordan Roberts, Kayden Salinas, Keegan Shingledecker, Peyton Tippett, Jamison Vaillancourt, Beau VandenBrink
Highest Honor Graduates: Caleigh Barth, Tylynn Beligano, Sophia Bell, Andy Dong, Chase Evans, Brody Fletcher, Parker Garwick, Ava Glass, Rylie Glass, Abigail Griffioen, Macy Ivins, Megan Jackson, Connor Jacobs, Lydia Jepsen, Emily Klish, Leah Klish, Maxine Levanduski, Seth Luegge, Sophia Lyczynski, Ethan McDonald, Hannah McGahan, Adam Meudt, Omar Ortiz, Shivangi Patel, Azariah Price, Connor Quake, Cole Schaaf, Hallie Simon, Vanessa Soto-Cruz, Emma Stasiuk, Kylie Sterner, Abigail Thompson, Henry Veale, Kaitlyn Williamson, Lauren Wills, Taylor Workman
Principal’s Award: Abigail Griffioen, Jacob Ballard
Foreign Exchange Students: Carolina Carbone, Thitiwute Choodoung, Franziska Gerbl, Victoria Jaeger, Nano Miyoshi, Hertta Mononen, Greta Mueller, Daria Rimleanscaia, Charlotte Werner, Isabel Rives Sanchez
National Honor Society Seniors: Emily Avery, Caleigh Barth, Tylynn Beligano, Sophia Bell, Jori Bonnema, Chase Evans, Brody Fletcher, Parker Garwick, Ava Glass, Rylie Glass, Abigail Griffioen, Anna Ives, Macy Ivins, Megan Jackson, Connor Jacobs, Lydia Jepsen, Emily Klish, Leah Klish, Maxine Levanduski, Sophia Lyczynski, Hannah McGahan, Connor Quake, Jordan Roberts, Kayden Salinas, Cole Schaaf, Hallie Simon, Emma Stasiuk, Kylie Sterner, Abigail Thompson, Henry Veale, Kaitlyn Williamson, Lauren Wills, Taylor Workman
Elena Meadows Special Edition Award: Tylynn Beligano
James Michael Meadows Computer Science Award: Jamison Vaillancourt
Athletics Awards
MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Nominees: Macy Ivins, Chase Evans, Brody Fletcher, Connor Quake
Wolverine Conference Academic All-League: Brody Fletcher, Rylie Glass
Participation Award (10 Seasons): Addison Abnet, Jacob Ballard
Participation Award (11 Seasons): Garron Gahan, Chase Evans, Dylan Harper
Triple Threat Award (12 seasons of participation): Rylie Glass, Macy Ivins, Zoe McGlothlen, Connor Quake, Emma Stasiuk, Caleigh Barth
Three Rivers Commercial-News Most Outstanding Athletes: Rylie Glass, Connor Quake
Scholarships
Kadant Johnson General Scholarship: Lydia Jepsen
VFW Ben Shively Post 3019 Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen
Three Rivers Lions Club Memorial Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen, Chase Evans
Denise Miller Memorial Scholarship: Alison Chartrand
Three Rivers Mt. Hermon Masonic Lodge Scholarship: Emily Klish
Park Elementary PTO Scholarship: Chase Evans
Mary Snow Memorial Scholarship: Caleigh Barth
Three Rivers Woman’s Club Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen
Grand Rapids Building Services Perseverance Award: Omar Ortiz
Pauline E. Abshire and Florence E. Warner Art Scholarship: Anna Ives
Eric “Boomer” Clemence Annual Scholarship: Anna Ives
James E. Clark Scholarship: Anna Ives
George Haines Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen, Anna Ives, Emily Avery
Ralph and Phyllis Bence Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen
Lucile Shafer Haring and Sheila J. Haring Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen
Carleton and Ruth Poe Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen
TRHS Class of ’69 Wildcat Spirit Legacy Scholarship: Abigail Griffioen
Edward “Coach” T. Johnson and Patricia Johnson Scholarship: Caleigh Barth
Gary L. Cottingham Scholarship: Caleigh Barth, Rylie Glass
Glenn Rifenberg Community Scholarship: Sophia Bell
Elizabeth “Betty” Lambertson Scholarship: Megan Jackson, Sophia Bell
Adam Learn #27 Memorial Scholarship: Lydia Jepsen, Parker Garwick
Dennis W. Lockwood-Gary Warner Scholarship: Rylie Glass, Emily Avery
Ken McEnroe Scholarship: Caleigh Barth, Connor Quake
John T. Nykun Scholarship: Taylor Workman, Lydia Jepsen
Dr. Don Schimnoski Scholarship: Macy Ivins
David T. Stuck Founders Scholarship: Lydia Jepsen
Three Rivers Rotary Scholarship: Emily Klish
W.R. Monroe Scholarship: Caleigh Barth