Weiser Elks hand out awards to students at annual banquet

By: 
Sreve Lyon

Members of Weiser Elks Lodge No. 1683 recently hosted their annual youth awards banquet and presented numerous awards to deserving local students.
 Awards were given to winners in the 2019 Elks Hoop Shoot, Elks students of the month, Elks student of the year and the Elks Americanism essay contest. The students and their families were guests of the Elks for dinner.
 After dinner, the students who won in the Elks Americanism essay contest read their compositions and received plaques and checks. Third-place winners in the essay contest received $25. Second-place winners received $50 each and the first-place winner earned $75.
 The essay contest was open to students in the fifth through eighth grades and included schools in Weiser, Midvale, Cambridge, Council, Huntington, Ore., and New Plymouth. This year’s theme for the essay competition was, “What makes you proud of America?”
 Retired Ontario teacher Cheri Clausen assisted with an initial review of the 57 essay submissions.
 Elks member John Evans was in charge of the essay contest and served as the final judge, along with Dorothy Evans, who also belongs to the Lions Club.
 The essays were scored based on certain criteria, including originality, development of theme and mechanics and neatness. The essays were limited to 300 words.
 In Division 1, which included the fifth and sixth grades, the first place essay winner was Addison Rose Anderson, who also won third place at district. Second place went to Danner Morris and Joshua Kelley took third place.
 The Division 2 winners included the seventh and eighth graders. First place went to Elaina Hoffman, who also placed third at the district essay competition. Natalie Mink took second place and Midvale student Thomas Gonzalez took third place. Gonzalez went on to win the Elks district competition and placed at the state level.
 In addition to recognizing the essay winners, the Elks also passed out awards to students of the month and the student of the year at the banquet.
 Three high-achieving students at Weiser High School were picked as students of the month and one was selected by the Elks as the student of the year.
 Oval Metcalf, who has run the Elks scholarship committee for the past 20 years, was in charge of the students of the month catergory.
 Sydnee Reyes was picked as January student of the month. She is a senior who carries a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend the University of Idaho.
 She plans to major in marine science so she may transfer at some point in her college to be closer to an ocean. She is a varsity player on the WHS golf team.
 Sydney Cobb was selected as the student of the month for March. She plans to attend TVCC and major in nursing. She wants to become a nurse educator in diabetes prevention and treatment as a future career. She also will compete for the TVCC rodeo team.
 Sara Lundberg was named student of the month for Februray and also student of the year.
 Lundberg has a 4.0 GPA and is secretary of the senior class at WHS. She is a top varsity golfer for the Weiser High School golf team. She plans to attend Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and major in chemical engineering.
 Darrel Krause, the Weiser Elks Hoops Shoot chairman, presented awards to this year’s winners in the contest, which is held every January in Weiser.
 Each age group winner in this year’s contest received a certificate and a hoodie embossed with their name on it.  
 The 2019 winners included: Jantsen Walker (8-9), Klete Cook (10-11) and Kolin Cook (12-13). For the girls, Sophia Shirts (8-9) and Ellie Shirts (10-11). There was no girl entrant in the 12-13 year old division.
 

Category:

Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

Connect with Us