News

SLIDESHOW: Henderson County honors top scholars

Glenn Marlow Elementary School principal John Bryant, the keynote speaker, demonstrates good attitude: breaking into 'YMCA' while stuck in traffic in Atlanta.

By Bill Moss, Published: May 29, 2013

Parents, teachers and school leaders honored the 2012-13 Top Scholars of the Henderson County public schools Tuesday night during a banquet at the Blue Ridge Community College Conference Center.

The top 15 students from each high school and two students from the Henderson County Early College High School were recognized at the ninth annual event.
The honorees included Charles William Cantrell III, a North Henderson senior who has never missed a day of school in 13 years.
The 2013 scholars — 39 girls and 23 boys — had an average GPA of 4.7317
, an average total SAT score of 1843, 345 points above the national average; and an average ACT score of 28, 7 points better than the national average. The students had so far won scholarships and grants worth $1,031,699.
Thirty-five are North Carolina natives, all but one from Western North Carolina, and four were born in other countries. UNC-Chapel Hill is the college choice for 20 of the seniors, the most by far, followed by N.C. State University, with eight; Wake Forest, four; and Appalachian State and UNC-Greensboro, three.

Keynote speaker John Bryant, the principal of Glenn C. Marlow Elementary School, urged the seniors to sustain their success through attitude, initiative and the kind of behavior their mothers modeled.
Attitude: "We are so very fortunate to be in complete control of the attitude that we carry into every moment of our lives," he said. Example: He and his wife, Lisa K. Bryant, hit a "10-lane parking lot" of a traffic jam in Atlanta on the way to a Braves game. He tensed up. Then they pulled up next to a van carrying a family that was singing and dancing to "YMCA." He joined in, against Lisa's advice. Attitude makes a difference.
Initiative: "The opportunity for us to choose to do what no one has yet asked us to do." He noticed a student at Glenn Marlow named Addie reading a book this week. What was it? Summer reading for middle school, she said. "It's 'summer reading,'" the principal told her. "I know," Addie said, "but I'm ahead and I intend to stay that way." "She's 11 years old, and I know there are a number of Addies out here today... I hope you will be that one who recognizes that something doesn't have to ask you to do it to validate that it needs to be done."
Model your mom: "Our mothers can and should be the guide for how we treat everyone on our walk. Do we remember how our mothers modeled compassion and patience and absolute tolerance for all that makes us difficult. I know that if I we can engage others in our lives the way our mothers have modeled for us."

The scholars were:

• East Henderson High School: Luis Cristian Acosta, Anthony Jackson Allen, Alexis Paige Bryson, Cassidy Elizabeth Capps, Alex Michael Case, Kyle Christian Couch, Ashley Marie Culbertson, Logan Andrew Green, Sarah Elizabeth Marr, Jonathan Lanson Plyler, Travis Brian Smith, Botond Ors, Szep, Mark Steven Templeton, Hayden MacKenzie Tittle, and Jordan Timothy Tripp.
• Hendersonville High School: Sarah Archer Boyette, Erin Frances Brooks, Margaret Seitz Butler, Jessica Yetta Chotiner, Olivia Marie Dietrich, Abigail Lee Harris, Dylan Miller Kallenbach, Hailey Alexandra Kater, Monique Elise LaBorde, Elizabeth Anne Lackey, Andrew William Legg, Hannah McKinley, Brice Barrett Molton, Pageant Quinn Nevel, and Ashley Marie Young.
• North Henderson High School: Charles William Cantrell III, Isaac Freeman Dalton, Kelsey Leigh Davis, Andrew David Frey, Daphne Jasmine Hill, Brianna Nicole Maciejewski, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Maddox, Kasey Nicole McDonald, Madison Olivia Odom, Marissa Nicole Pace, Mauricio Rojas, Haejin Mary Sim, Emily Michelle Stratton, Justin Michael Uy-Camp, and Audrey Aliese Wells.
• West Henderson High School: Elizabeth Peeples Gillon, Diane Michelle Gromelski, Hailey Elizabeth Johns, Conor Patrick Kennedy, Christine Rose King, Hannah Lee Kyung, Hunter Rogers Lawton, Tatianna Frances Nelson, Samantha Renée Onken, Hannah Marie Owen, Rachel Marie Shoemaker, Amy Marie Taylor, Aaron Michael Turpin, Sarah Elizabeth Wood, and Zachary Louis Younger.
• Henderson County Early College High School: Jyotsna Panthee and Esme Daughtridge Toshach.