Clarke Central High School Principal Marie Yuran presents five students with a certificate and t-shirt as part of the Champion Recognition for September. Champion Recognition is a new program that recognizes students for their hard work. “Ms. Yuran called my second-period teacher and asked me to come up to the office and I just walked in and she said I had been nominated,” junior Jacob Dula (pictured top left) said. Photos courtesy of Kelly Wegmann.
Clarke Central High School Principal Marie Yuran began a monthly program of recognition for students who have been nominated by their teachers as “champions.”
Beginning in September, Clarke Central High School Principal Marie Yuran started a monthly recognition for students for their positive actions and contributions to the CCHS community.
“So, coming into this year, we asked teachers once a month to nominate students that they have seen display the true heart of a champion,” Yuran said. “We make forms, send them out once a month and review them as an administrative team. You know, we have to narrow it down, because I think we had 20 nominations the first month, which was great. We narrow it down to five-seven kids.”
Math department teacher Michael Gunn nominated a student in September for Champion Recognition and has nominated students for other recognition programs in the past.
“I look for a kid that is really working hard in class, and making a positive contribution to what’s going on with our discussions and willing to help other kids if they need help and just kind of taking on a little bit of leadership in class,” Gunn said.
Yuran told the teachers to choose a student that resembles a champion but left them to interpret what that means in their respective classroom environments.
“(A champion) can be from working hard in the classroom to overcoming obstacles, to managing multiple things in their lives that are going on. We tried to really leave it wide open, somebody who shows improvement, somebody who’s excellent at certain things,” Yuran said.
Last month, Yuran and the CCHS administration chose five students from the pool of nominations by teachers. Junior Jacob Dula was one of the five students chosen for the September Champion Recognition.
“I think I was nominated because I do my work and stay focused in class. I think that it shows in my work and how I act in the classroom, outside the classroom and on the (football) field as well,” Dula said. “Being nominated made me feel like the work I put in is actually working out and that what I have been doing is actually producing what I want.”
