The top ten academically achieved seniors of the 2017-18 school year were awarded with a dinner and a short meeting within the school library.  The dinner was held on May 1, with a gathering and speeches in the school library followed by dinner at the Iron Bridge restaurant. The Academic Dinner for students in grades 9-12 was held on May 15th at the Robert M. Smith Center on the Slippery Rock University campus.

The students in the top ten were able to invite one teacher who influenced them the most. Of the teachers invited, Mr. Belowich accompanied Makayla Rieder, along with Sarah Schmidt bringing Frau Kramer ,and Gage LaChance, who brought his fourth grade teacher.

On the dinner, Sarah Schmidt says, “It was fun to hang out with your teachers in a less formal setting than in school.”

The top two students that are up for Valedictorian and Salutatorian this year are Sarah Schmidt and Gage LaChance respectively. It wasn’t a goal for either of them to make it into the top ten, though it was a goal of Schmidt’s to beat her older sister’s GPA.

When asked to give advice for those aiming for the top ten, LaChance imparts students to “Take classes for the knowledge, not the grade.”

Being in the top ten grade point averages in Slippery Rock High School is pretty beneficial as well. There are many scholarship opportunities for those who graduate within the top ten percent of their class, and even more for the Valedictorian.

The other eight of the top students are Addy Birkes, Meghan Miller, Chase Wilkerson, Cassie Lefever, Lauryn Pavlik, Brynn Horner, Olivia Girdwood, and Makayla Rieder.

For those aiming for the top ten, Ms. Gallagher jokes, “You should’ve looked for advice your freshman year!” She explains that doing well academically freshman year paves a path for easy success in the proceeding years to graduation.

All students with a 3.2 GPA or higher were invited to the annual Academic Dinner on May 15th to celebrate their academic achievements at SRHS.