West Anchorage High School hosted a National Honor Society assembly to honor students who have achieved academic success in the current school year. Parents and family members were invited to see their son/daughter achieve their award through the years of hard work and dedication to their academics.

This years Honor Society had an estimated 700 students that received awards. Students that keep receiving award with a GPA of 3.5 and up will receive pins for doing so. Silver for GPA’s from 3.5 to 3.9, and gold pins for students that reached to 4.0.

The past five years only had an estimated amount of 400 to 500 students. So this year was a big blow out for the NHS because of the amount of students that were nominated.

Daniella Jane is a freshman at West and is one of the nominees for the National Honor Society. She says that her freshman year is going alright but when she found out she was being nominated for the NHS, she was excited. “I didn’t know I was going to be in it, I didn’t realize my grades were that good, I am just blessed to receive this award,” says Jane.

Jane now wants to encourage other students that didn’t make it to keep trying no matter what goes in your way. She encourages students to focus on the important things in life instead of the negative things.

Also nominated for the NHS was Szcerdelski Seuteni, a sophomore. When asked how he feels about being one of the nominees, he said, “All my life I have been recognized for my academic achievements, Last year was my first time achieving it so it was fun.” He hopes that one day someone can recognize him for receiving honor rolls so that he can get scholarships to college.

Staff also played a role by handing out certificates to the students of West. Miriam Dean is a guidance counselor for the school and was one of the staff attending the NHS assembly. Through hard work and dedication, staff were very proud of how many students were receiving recognitions. “These students worked pretty hard, I mean that’s why they were up there because they did good in classes and worked their butts off,” says Dean. And to those that didn’t make it to the assembly, there is still hope, you just need to actually try to get there.