At 6:00 p.m on Thursday, May 25, Archie Williams families gathered at the main gym for the annual Senior Awards ceremony. Teachers from all departments handed out over 270 awards in total, ranging from outstanding academic achievement awards to scholarships.

The night began with a welcoming speech from Assistant Principal Kaki McLachlan, and ended with the announcement of senior valedictorians. To earn the title of class valedictorian at Archie Williams, a student must either have the highest GPA in their class or be 0.05 points away from the highest GPA, resulting in differing numbers of valedictorians year to year.

This year, Archie William’s class of 2027 had three valedictorians: BT Salle-Widelock, Maggie Anderson, and Zola Thurston. BT says that his consistent work ethic throughout his high school career helped create strong study habits, which enabled him to obtain the title of valedictorian.

“I think that I put in consistent effort in my four years [in highschool], and it feels nice to have that acknowledged,” BT said.

In addition to the three valedictorians, administration also recognized nine salutatorians. Any student within 0.05 points of the second highest GPA in the class receives the salutatorian award.

Nick Forest, one of the nine recipients of the award, expressed his gratitude for the Senior Awards ceremony as a whole.

“I think the importance of senior awards is to recognize the seniors. They’ve worked hard all four of their years of high school, putting in the time. They deserve some recognition for all of the effort they’ve put in,” Nick said.

Along with the academic awards, many students received scholarships, including a $1,000 scholarship from the local 10,000 Degrees program. Recipient of the scholarship, Nadine Abouelseoud, shared how the scholarship will benefit her.

“It means a lot. Now I can buy a computer I need for college, and I’ll just have some extra money for books,” Nadine said.

While students who excel in departments such as math, science, history, and English usually get most of the recognition, administration also highlighted students who excelled in lesser-known subjects.

Grace Hanavan received an award for outstanding achievement in ceramics.

“I only started doing it this year, but I changed my major to studio art, which is what I think I’m going to do with my life,” Grace said.

From valedictorians to artists, Senior Awards Night recognized students from a variety of interests and backgrounds.