The People’s Choice Awards is a commonly known event hosted in America that honors celebrities and the works of popular culture. At Loy Norrix High School on Monday May 9, 2016, a People’s Choice Awards was held where teachers nominated students that they thought deserved to be recognized.
“It was such an honor to be nominated,” said senior Martin Mueller, “I was actually not expecting it, but it was still a joyful experience.”
Seniors Jakob Link and Cutter Olmstead served as reporters as the nominees strutted down a red carpet scene after being escorted to the auditorium by an exclusive Escalade ride. They asked the students questions about their level of excitement, who they thought nominated them and why, and what personal qualities helped get them to the ceremony.
This set-up was meant to be all about the students, glamorizing them in their uniqueness.
Freshman Ava and Will Keller sang “We Are Young” by FUN, which kicked off the celebration. Next, the forensics team was there to provide even more entertainment with their spontaneous outbursts and audience involvement. Clapping and laughter turned more serious when the crowd got entertained by the last performance, slam poetry, which were spoken by sophomore Carter Standish and junior Hailey Timmerman.
All of this happened in between the honoring of each of the nominees and the showing of their taped prediction interview.
That night there were forty-one Knights being honored. Each were introduced by their nominating teacher with a small passage as to why they were chosen. Emotions spilled out over the audience in the Kasdorf Auditorium as teachers described young women and men who exhibited characteristics of leadership and dedication.
The night was about the appreciation of the underdogs.
The students nominated were often ones who are not noticed that much, but still deserve to be acknowledged for their kindness, scholarly attributes and their positive outlooks on life. All nominees participated in a prediction video where they tried to guess who their nominating teacher was. Gasps of surprise and looks of “I knew it” was a mix amongst the students as they took the stage to receive their trophy and thank their teacher.
“The minute that [principal] Mr. Prewitt said he had played the jazz music, I knew he had nominated me,” said Mueller, “It caught me by surprise but it was such a good feeling.”
The night’s festivities had students wanting to do more, so that in the following year they may be nominated again.
“My advice to other students who want to be nominated next year, [is to] stay dedicated to life, be active in school, and treat the faculty the same as you want to be treated,”said Mueller.