North Scott Junior High honors Learning Lancers; senior Zach Powell urges students to ‘cherish every moment’

North Scott Junior High held an awards ceremony to recognize student academic achievement during the first semester, Principal Chad Jones said. "It is an honor to be with all of you to celebrate the academic accomplishments of our Learning Lancers this evening," Jones said, introducing the program that named students for Learning Lancer, Academic Excellence and honor-roll distinctions.

The ceremony combined school awards and a reading of the President's Education Award letter and featured remarks from students and administrators. Jones described the Learning Lancer recognitions as a long-standing junior high tradition that highlights semester academic performance, and he read criteria for multiple awards used at the school.

Most of the night’s recognitions were organized by award category and GPA range. Jones outlined the thresholds the school used: Learning Lancer awards are given to students who achieved a 3.5 grade-point average or higher during the first semester; Academic Excellence awards are given to students with a 4.0 GPA. First honors recognized GPAs roughly in the 3.75–3.99 range and second honors covered GPAs from about 3.5 to 3.749, Jones said. He also described the President's Academic Excellence Award for eighth graders in the district and its criteria: "The President's Academic Excellence Award is earned by eighth grade students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher throughout seventh and eighth grade along with scoring in the 85th percentile or higher on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress commonly referred to as the ISASP test and those are in the areas of reading and math," Jones said.

Jones and Associate Principal Stephanie Farrenkreu introduced recipients and called dozens of students to the stage by name. The program read the full list of honorees in each GPA category, and the school presented Academic Excellence awards to students who met the 4.0 standard.

The event also included a student address from Zach Powell, introduced as a North Scott High School senior and a 2025 graduate. Powell spoke about his experience in high school and offered advice for younger students. "High school is an amazing place to meet new people and talk to people that you might not speak to every day," Powell said. He urged classmates to "get to class on time," to form good relationships with teachers and peers, and to use class time effectively so they do not have to do homework at home. On dealing with pressure he told students to pause before a test or other stressful event: "take a step back, take a deep breath, and realize that it will not be the end of the world."

School staff announced logistical details at the close of the ceremony: seventh graders would be waiting in the library and eighth graders in the front atrium for pickup. Staff also noted the event was shared via a live broadcast so students watching remotely could hear Powell's remarks.

The program highlighted both individual and collective achievement: Jones emphasized community support and extracurricular participation as part of what makes the school “a special place to be,” and administrators applauded families, teachers and school staff who helped students reach the recognized standards.

For parents and caregivers, school staff asked that award recipients be collected from designated areas after the program; administrators thanked caregivers and staff for the evening and closed the ceremony with final applause for the students.