Mitchell students recognized for academic excellence, achievements

May 8—MITCHELL — Students at Mitchell High School are wrapping up another busy school year, with graduation just over a week away.

It's also been another successful school year worth celebrating. That was in evidence Wednesday afternoon at the Mitchell Performing Arts Center, where students were recognized for academic excellence and other achievements during the Mitchell High School Awards Assembly.

Dozens of students were recognized in over 20 categories during the program.

Among the recognitions were the announcement of the 2024 Boys State and Girls State representatives from Mitchell High School. Linda Holmes, president of the auxiliary for American Legion Post 18 in Mitchell, said the five selectees this year will again represent Mitchell High School as they study the finer points of South Dakota government at the city, county and state levels.

"Girls State brings together the best girls from all over the state of South Dakota to experience a week of intensive training and citizenship and government. In essence, Girls State is focused on character development," Holmes said.

The five students that will represent Mitchell at Girls State were announced as Alexa Chapman, Kaylie Fuert, Grace Hempel, Lauren Hofer and Camryn Swanstrom.

Hugh Holmes, also with the American Legion Post 18, revealed the names of the students who will represent Mitchell at Boys State this year.

"Boys State is a citizenship training program. The American Legion believes that for democracy to flourish, our young men must have an understanding of the American way of life," Hugh Holmes said. "The objective of Boys State is to help youth better understand and appreciate the American system of government and way of life, including the rights and responsibilities of citizenship."

The 2024 Mitchell representatives to Boys State were announced as Joshua Machado, Sutton Thompson, Floyd Korzan, Noah Pudwill, Max Hart and Alfredo Salcido.

Another group recognition went to the Spanish National Honor Society.

Teri Morgan, who spoke during that recognition, said the group of 20 students would be greatly missed when they move on from her classes after this year.

"I will definitely miss all of these students next year," Morgan said. "We become like a little family because I have them for three years, and it's pretty emotional. I just want to tell them thanks for being great kids. Muchas gracias!"

A number of individual academic awards were given out as well, including awards for science and culinary arts.

Tricia Neugebauer spoke on behalf of the science department at Mitchell High School. She said this year's Science Award recipient, Allison Rasmussen, had deftly navigated the highest levels of science taught at the school.

"This student not only took every advanced science course we have to offer, but they excelled obviously in every single one. Not only that, what put them apart is that they have a thirst for understanding the world around them and in them," Neugebauer said. "And that's what really set her apart."

Cindy Gerlach presented the award for Top Culinary Arts and Management.

Jay Melmer, the recipient of the award, was praised for being both an excellent student and a solid assistant in the classroom. Those features made him stand out for the award, Gerlach said.

"This is a student who has gone above and beyond and taken a number of my classes," Gerlach said. "This student has also been kind of my right hand person just all the time and in different things."

The ceremony closed out Wednesday afternoon with the HOBY Awards.

The four students chosen to receive the distinction — Maddie Childs, Katie Hohn, Mallory Miedema and Jordan Platt — will represent Mitchell High School at an upcoming HOBY Leadership Seminar in June.

Bobby Reindl, assistant principal for Mitchell High School, who presented the awards, noted that the selection of four students instead of a single student represents a change from past HOBY Awards at Mitchell High School.

"Each year, the Mitchell High School faculty selects a sophomore as a representative to the Hugh O'Brian Leadership Seminar. This year, Mitchell High School took a different approach and four students will be attending the seminar," Reindl said. "The selected students will take part in leadership training, service learning and motivational building experiences.They will learn social responsibility and how they can make a difference and what it means to be a global citizen."

Reindl said all the students recognized Wednesday afternoon are an example of both the quality of students at Mitchell High School and the quality of education available in the Mitchell School District.

"I am very proud of the quality of education that our students receive at Mitchell High School, and I feel this recognition signifies the hard work the students and staff implement throughout Mitchell schools," Reindl said.

Several student awards were handed out Wednesday afternoon. Among those were:

Kiwanis Academic Awards (4.0 GPA for first three quarters): Seniors: Landon Bigge, Shawn Boehmer, Ella Bohlen, Diony Borja, Max Bruguier, Mason Buenzow, Lily Carpenter, Morgan Dalton, Quinn Dannenbring, Delaney Degen, Elyssa Delehant, Riley Dey, Rian Douvier, Racquel Driedger, Keenah Escobin, Hope Flippin, Meagan Hagerty, Andrew Haiar, Bailey Henkel, Grayson Hetland, Bryar Hill, Maxwell Johnson, Maddie Kempf, Eva Kristensen, Noah Larson, Grayson Laursen, Autumn Lentz, Taylor Love, Allison Meyerink, Carter Miller, Cella Nath, Sophie Parsons, Reed Renken, Jennifer Resendiz, Grace Roden, Kelsie Royals, Dawson Schroeder, Elijah Schroeder, Gavin Soukup, Claire Steffes, Sawyer Stoebner, Madyson Thompson, Sean Thompson, Madeline Vogel, Lilly Young. Juniors: Reese Amick, Brooklyn Bailey, Jon Berg, Caden Bierema, Ava Brannan, Addison Ellis, Lainee Forst, Elise Foster, Kaylie Fuerst, Amelia Gerlach, Olivia Gibbs, Grace Hempel, Aubrey Henderson, Lauren Hofer, Corbin Keckler, Bria Klingberg, Floyd Korzan, Kate Long, Keean Mimmack, Tenley Peterson, Ashlynn Pollreisz, Noah Pudwill, Mikayla Ratigan, Ashlyn Reynolds, Brock Russell, Alfredo Salcido Santos, Emmerson Smith, Addison Sprinkel, Jaeda Stunes, Camryn Swanstrom, Kamryn Thelen, Sutton Thompson, Brady Trefz, Mylie Weber, Carsyn Weich, Marshall Widstrom, Rachel Ziegeldorf. Sophomores: Hope Baysinger, Carlie Bell, Madelyn Childs, Lauren Christiansen, Talon Fenski, Emree Fergen Emily Gelderman, Addisyn Hagen, Brittney Hatwan, Jayda Horton, Sophie Huber, Mylee Killian, Megan Mastel, Nicholas Max, Ruby Mebius, Mallory Miedema, Audrey Miller, Emma Plamp, Olivia Prunty, Teresa Schroeder, McCoy Tupper, Mya Vogel, Madison Walz, Kambyl Wede, Jordyn Wilson. Freshmen: Charleigh Collins, Madilyn Cooper, Josie Dey, Emilie Ellis, Ivory Fenski, Emma Hofer, Mason Kempf, Bryn Kisor, Cassidy Korzan, Chelsea Larson, Addyson Moody, Kathleen Morgan, Mirabelle Morrison, Reagan Mueller, Colby Niehoff, Kaylie O'Connor, Colin Pickett, Hayden Pischel, Owen Raml, Brooklyn Schlimgen, Londyn Schroeder, Alexandra Stange, Kaelynn Swanstrom, Henry Trefz, Brooke Ver Hey, Ian Weber, Stratton Zens.

4.0 GPA for two of first three quarters: Seniors: Lukas Chenoweth, Drake Earl, Paige Guthmiller, Carter Harris, Ally Henkel, Tyra Hill, Olivia Johnson, Connor Kirchmeyer, Nathan McCormick, Lexus Messmer, Mia Mullenmeister, Logan Oehlerking, Lillian Peterson, April Phillips, Tyson Sabers, Kyana Thomas, Emma Vermeulen, Jason Voeltz, Jaylie Zoss. Juniors: Ciara Blake, Alexa Chapman, Elizabeth Clement, Parker Denne, Gavin Hinker, Rachel Hohn, Luke Jerke, Brooke Jones, Morgan Klinger, Joshua Machado, Kali Milekovich, Reagan Morgan, Kathryn Payne, Sydney Roy, Avery Schneider, Selena Skovbo, Addisen Vander Wilt, Lauren VanOverschelde, Brenden Wantoch, Delaney Zoss. Sophomores: Vitus Carpenter, Alexis Daley, Taylor DeJong, Josie Eitemiller, Jessica Gerlach, Katie Hohn, Benjamin Johnson, Avrie London, Jordan Platt, Natalie Schelske, Peightyn Sullivan, Kaelyn Wellnitz, Quinton Wilson, Desirae Yamazaki. Freshmen: Nicholas Crothers, Ayda Gulledge, Rylee Jennings, Rorey Koch, Caylee Kopfmann, Bryer Stach, Katie Stahl, Taryn Thomas, Colin Wilson.

BIG FRIEND-LITTLE FRIEND MENTORS: Grace Baysinger, Delaney Degen, Kaitlyn Adams, Abe Gunnare, Jordan Platt, Elly Clement, Sophie Parsons, Shawn Boehmer, Sawyer Stoebner, Hallie Carlson.

GIRLS STATE DELEGATES: Alexa Chapman, Kaylie Fuerst, Grace Hempel, Lauren Hofer, Camryn Swanstrom.

BOYS STATE DELEGATES: Joshua Machado, Sutton Thompson, Floyd Korzan, Noah Pudwill, Max Hart, Alfredo Salcido.

AMERICAN LEGION CITIZENSHIP AWARD: Boys: Maxwell Johnson; Runner-up: Gavin Soukup; Girls: Diony Borja; Runner-up: Morgan Dalton.

BUSINESS AWARD: Diony Borja.

ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP AWARD: Ky Magstadt, Solangely Rivera.

SPANISH NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY: Christopher Bernabe Posada, Shawn Boehmer, Benton Christensen, Jayden Davis, Elyssa Delehant, Racquel Driedger, Keenah Escobin, Hope Flippin, Andrew Haiar, Maxwell Johnson, Maddie Kempf, Autumn Lentz, Mia Mullenmeister, Sophie Parsons, April Phillips, Annaliese Salcido, Allison Rasmussen, Jennifer Resendiz, Kyana Thomas, Madeline Vogel.

WORLD LANGUAGE AWARD: Max Johnson.

TECHNOLOGY AWARD: Reed Renken, Shawn Boehmer.

NATIONAL ART HONOR SOCIETY: Max Bruguier, Brooke Emme, Halle Haring, Tyra Hill, Kaitelyn Johnson, Brooke Jones, Dailyn Kiner, Tianna Meadows, Elizabeth Mick, Emma Muth, Sawyer Stoebner, Madyson Thompson, Lilly Young.

ART AWARDS: Art Student of the year: Max Bruguier; Exceptional art student: Tyra Hill; Art Ambassador of the year: Solangely Rivera.

ENGLISH AWARD: Cella Nath.

YEARBOOK AWARD: Ella Bohlen, Diony Borja, Lilly Young.

SOCIAL STUDIES AWARD: Noah T. Larson.

TECHNICAL THEATER AWARD: Best Actor: Keean Mimmack, Rian Douvier; Technical Theatre Award: James Schelske, Julia Miller.

SCIENCE AWARD: Allison Rasmussen.

MATHEMATICS AWARD: Catherine Mentele.

CULINARY ARTS AND MANAGEMENT AWARD: Jay Melmer.

BEST KNIFE SKILLS, CULINARY ARTS AWARD: Caden Biermema, Nate McCormick.

STUDENT COUNCIL AWARD: Student Body President: Dawson Schroeder; Vice-President: Hope Flippin; Senior Class: President: Delany Degen; Vice President, Elijah Schroeder; Junior Class: President, Ava Brannan; Vice President: Carsyn Weich; Sophomore Class: President, Kambyl Wede; Vice President: Katie Hohn; Freshman Class: President: Londyn Schroeder, Vice-President: Talli Peschong.

ALL-STATE STUDENT COUNCIL: Morgan Dalton and Autumn Lentz.

HOBY AWARD: Maddie Childs, Katie Hohn, Mallory Miedema, Jordan Platt.