Tune in here for the Ledger-Enquirer’s 45th annual Page One Awards
Stay-at-home restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic prohibited this year’s gathering from being in person, but the Ledger-Enquirer continued its tradition of celebrating outstanding high school seniors and teachers in the Columbus area with a ceremony unlike the previous 44.
The L-E conducted its 45th annual Page One Awards program online Tuesday night.
So instead of the 205 nominees and folks from throughout the Chattahoochee Valley attending the presentation in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, they logged on to ledger-enquirer.com, where they watched via video L-E general manager Ross McDuffie host this unique version.
Cash awards to the winners and runners-up in the 13 student categories and one teacher category amounted to more than $19,000. That brings the 45-year total to $629,000, an “extensive investment” in more than 8,600 students and teachers, McDuffie said.
The student categories are art, athletics, career and technology, citizenship, drama, English and literature, foreign language, general scholarship, journalism, mathematics, music, science and social studies.
The candidates are nominated by their high school principals. After reading the applications, which include essay questions and a faculty recommendation, the judges interview the nominees.
The 39 judges, who are community leaders in various career fields, also consider the nominee’s academic achievements and community service to select the winners and runners-up.
“Without you, this program would not be possible,” McDuffie told the judges. “Your diligence and passion for interviewing our scholars are part of what makes Page One an inspiring celebration of the best our community has to offer.”
McDuffie commended the nominees “for being such great human beings.” Then he described their collective impact at school and in the community through leadership positions in more than 400 organizations.
“They have part-time jobs. They tutor. They organize. They right wrongs. They do good,” he said. “Our entire community is proud of you, and it’s a better place to live because each of you are a part of it.”
McDuffie also recognized presenting sponsor Piedmont Columbus Regional, whose CEO, Scott Hill, participated in the video.
“We are grateful for their 11-year, ongoing support of the Page One Awards program but also for their incredibly brave and inspiring work they are doing every day to support our community in this time of crisis,” McDuffie said.
All cash awards and other prizes will be mailed to recipients.
WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
The 2020 Page One Award winners, followed by the runners-up, in each category (with their high school in parentheses):
- Art: Rebecca Tabor (Columbus), Vinh Huynh (Spencer).
- Athletics: Raytrevius “Tre” Peterson (Columbus), Jordine Moody (Shaw).
- Career and technology: Jaekyung Kang (Columbus), Justin Hopf (Brookstone).
- Citizenship: Chequoreona Arnold (Jordan), Charles Gilliam (Brookstone).
- Drama: Sean Myers (Brookstone), Sabrena Lewandowski (Hardaway).
- English and literature: Ana Chavez-Almanza (Spencer), Ciera Walker (Hardaway).
- Foreign language: Kevin Guernsey (Columbus), Keegan Shaughnessy (Smiths Station).
- General scholarship: Jack Hester (Columbus), Olivia Hamilton (Shaw).
- Journalism: Cindy Peng (Brookstone), Marquise Jones (Shaw).
- Mathematics: Manav Shah (Brookstone), Aryaman Singh (Columbus).
- Music: Sierra Reis (Columbus), Kaleigh Griswell (Harris County).
- Science: Elizabeth Sigman (Brookstone), Diana Tejera-Berrios (Jordan).
- Social studies: Joy Hood (Shaw), Nora Klein (Harris County).
- Top teacher: John Cobis (Northside), Tomacia Johnson (Spencer), Amittia Smith (Jordan).
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 10:51 AM.
