Embedded Files
Sophomore IB Learner Award Pictures
Sophomore IB Learner Award Pictures
Freshmen IB Learner Award Pictures
Freshmen IB Learner Award Pictures
Senior and Junior IB Learner Awards Ceremony
Senior and Junior IB Learner Awards Ceremony
School Spirit Awards
School Spirit Awards
“The School Spirit Award is given to two students who, in the opinion of classmates and faculty, contribute to fostering school spirit through their enthusiasm, positive attitude, and concern for others both within and beyond the classroom. This award also comes with a check for $500, generously donated by our Parents’ Association.
I would like to invite the first of our School Spirit Award Recipients, Noriann Wray, to join me at the podium.
Norianne, this recognition comes as staff and students alike have watched you carry yourself at Sturgis with a smile on your face and pride in your heart throughout the past 4 years, all through your academic, extracurricular, and athletic participation. You have served as the Captain of your varsity sports teams, approached any challenges with grace, and pursued your IB Diploma, all while setting a wonderful example for others to follow. Aside from activities and academics, you are a kind and caring member of our school community whose outgoing demeanor immediately puts others at ease. People connect with you because you accept and admire them and the strengths they offer. In fact, one of the things your teachers and your peers admire most is that you do not brag or boast about your many skills and achievements, but instead, frequently celebrate the accomplishments of those around you.
To know you is to know your exceptional dedication to athletics, serving as a three-season athlete for your high school career, playing soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Your coach shared everytime they think of you they can hear the words “Let’s go, Sturgis” or “CMon Sturgis” as you consistently cheered/and or screamed to uplift your teammates from the field or the sidelines all while serving as a small but mighty reminder to spectators, players, and coaches alike that you are a leader, if not the heartbeat, of your team.
Off the field, teachers mention they can find you holding small study sessions for your IB classes, sharing your notes, and always encouraging your classmates. This encouragement and support of others is a common theme. Friends tell me that you often serve as a confidant and source of advice for them and it appears to me , that being that safe space for the people you care about has been an important part of your experience here at Sturgis.
You are the teammate everyone needs and the friend everyone deserves, but perhaps most importantly, you are a student that Sturgis has been lucky to have through the past four years, as you not only have consistently represented Sturgis School Spirit through your actions but have made all those who surrounded you better for it.
Congratulations, Noriann, on receiving the 2025 Sturgis East School Spirit Award.
Our second School Spirit Award recipient is Trinh O’Doherty!
Trinh. Not sure where to start. From the moment you arrived at Sturgis, you lit up our hallways and classrooms with your smile, positive energy, and ability to get stuff done! Teachers stated that it was odd when an event was not organized by you. As one teacher put it, you are ‘the voice of the class of 2025 and have been from the start’.
You gracefully handled the demands of school with the demands of acting and dance. You always put forth your best effort and can be relied upon to do what you set out to do. You were invaluable to IB Latin (and many other classes, I will add–too many to include in these brief remarks) as you lifted the energy level of the class; you always participated and, with your cheerfulness and self-deprecating humor, helped to create an atmosphere in which others felt comfortable participating.
This next part was too complicated to paraphrase, so I will list some of your accomplishments:
STAGE President, STUCO President. Prom Royalty, Dance teacher to younger kids in your studio, Leading role for both Little Shop of Horrors and Songs for a New World musicals, active in Sturgis Music Society, a cappella, Sturgis Singers, and Open Street performances, fundraised for the music department and successfully auditioned for the competitive All-Cape, Southeast, and All-State Festivals.
I’ll close with this brief, yet oh so powerful descriptor: Talented and modest: the best combination. Folks, please join me in congratulating Trinh O’Doherty!
William Sturgis Awards
William Sturgis Awards
This award is given to two Seniors who, in the opinion of classmates and faculty, embody the positive attitude and exemplary conduct represented by the Sturgis Code of Conduct and Rules to Live By. It is considered the most prestigious Sturgis award. The award winners' names will be engraved on a plaque that hangs in our entrance foyer and also comes with $500 donated by our Sturgis Parents’ Association.
I’d like to invite Martina Garcia Raya Radonic to the stage while I share some remarks from our faculty and staff. (You can clap!)
Martina, your teachers had a lot to say about you. Your intricate and refined attention to detail in the technical approach to your artwork was an inspiration to Mrs. Abel. Mr. Parish commented that you run a better meeting than 95% of the people he has ever interacted with in the business world.
You were an integral part of our varsity soccer and tennis programs. When you were finished there, you somehow managed to achieve a black belt in karate. All of that after a full day of academics, where teachers commented that you balance academic prowess with a healthy sense of humor and a laugh that fills the room . . . and the rooms next door to that room. You demonstrated perseverance, passion, and dedication to everything you set your sights on. In TO,K you were almost always the one to get the discussion started. You put an enormous amount of care into your written work, often doing two or three drafts before submitting. You are a student who has that spark that every teacher hopes to find. You are not only extremely intelligent, but also kind and warm towards others.
I’ll close with a lengthy but poignant teacher’s description of Martina:
Martina’s core values are kindness and inclusion. She puts so much effort into making sure other students, especially younger students, feel welcome and included. She is outraged when she sees injustice of any kind and has been able to channel that outrage effectively into action and change. Her ability to see the big picture is way beyond her years. She feels very big emotions but is always able to channel those emotions into controlled actions, and this is why she is going to leave her mark on the world just as she has left her mark on Sturgis.
Time to congratulate our first William Sturgis Award winner, Martina Garcia Raya Radonic.
And for the final award of the night, and our second William Sturgis recipient, would Avery Hamblin, please join me at the podium.
Avery, my guess is you might be the only one who is truly surprised to see that you are being recognized with this award, because humility is one of your outstanding traits, repeatedly highlighted. Others include amicable, optimistic, inclusive, and focused, as well as reliable, dedicated, responsible, genuine, and kind. Your contributions to our school and its community are numerous, but perhaps none more notable than your commitment to Key Club. Your involvement and leadership in our chapter showcased your dedication to community service as well as the Sturgis East Community.. Whether it be volunteering regularly at the Salvation Army, the Veterans Center food distribution, or your repeated experiences at Camp Sunshine, you have continuously and consistently role modeled the values and the spirit of community service. You never wavered in your commitment and often went above and beyond. For example, not only did you initiate a needs drive for the homeless, you went to the shelter to talk to the residents to identify what their true needs were, and proceeded to do what was necessary to procure those items for them. Mrs. Raftery put it best when she said, “Avery is always willing to take the extra step to make an authentic difference , even if that step outside her comfort zone.”
In addition to your contributions outside of the building, you have had a lasting impact on many in our school as well. Teachers commented that you are always willing to work with all of your classmates in group work and treat all members of the Sturgis community with dignity and respect. Mrs. Hempel was quick to note that your compassion and ability to see multiple perspectives make you an excellent mediator and problem-solver, and you have an innate sensitivity to being able to identify when others are feeling uncomfortable and also an awareness of how to help when you can..
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all the things that may have seemed little to you, but will continue to leave an impression even when you are gone. Things like saying thank you when work is handed to you or at the end of every class, randomly bringing in baked goods or delicious cranberries to share, surprise handwritten notes for birthdays, and an unshakeable positive attitude and contagious smile.
In your graduation speech, you recalled being a freshman “ I initially felt as though I would never be able to feel a sense of belonging at Sturgis. “. Well, I can assure you that your attitude, actions, and spirit not only helped create that belonging for you but for your classmates as well. Please don't ever change that about yourself.
Congratulations on receiving the 2025 Sturgis East William Sturgis Award!
Junior Book Awards
Junior Book Awards
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