On April 24 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Coronado hosted a freshman recognition for freshman students who earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Students that were able to attend the celebration received an email and letter of invitation from Mrs. Doyle, the freshmen counselor, informing them about the event.

The big question many students may find themselves asking is: why have a freshman recognition in the first place? Javin Fisher, junior, stated his opinion on the assembly: “I’m not sure why they would have a freshman recognition when there isn’t much to be recognized for. They haven’t really done too much, and although student recognition is always nice, it doesn’t make sense why freshman would get that.”

This statement was countered by Coronado’s principal, Darin Smith, who explained why Coronado has a freshman recognition ceremony and how the school benefits from it: “It all started roughly ten years ago, [when] the District 11 [School] Board wanted to encourage our freshman to continue their efforts. The transition to high school can be difficult, so it’s impressive when a student gets something as good as a GPA of 3.5 or higher. But it’s always going to be a low-key thing, and it’s nothing more than that.”

Mr. Smith also explained that a student’s sophomore and junior year is the time to achieve many things; that way in their senior year, students can look back at all the things they’ve accomplished: “Between sophomore and junior year is the time for students to show what they’re capable of, which isn’t saying we haven’t considered doing a sophomore and junior recognition, but I think that a student making it to senior awards is a way to sort of tie in everything a student did through their sophomore and junior years.”

As Coronado continues to progress as a school, the faculty will always try and encourage freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and even seniors to become the best versions of themselves they can be. Moving forward, it’s good to look at the freshman recognition as a checkpoint for all freshman to look back on and see what they did with only a year of high school. Seniors Jacob Pivonka and Myla Wolf were both featured speakers at the assembly and encouraged the freshman to get more involved with Coronado’s many clubs, sports, and activities as they continue forging their high school paths.