Jonesville High School recognizes students who earned College Board Program honors

JONESVILLE — Jonesville community schools' faculty and staff have been hard at work preparing and expanding academic programs and avenues for their students to explore to help prepare them for future professional and educational opportunities.

Among those opportunities has been emphasis on broadening the scope and outreach Jonesville has with educational and college associations and programs to help get Comet students recognized and honored for their work and to help them earn opportunities that will open new doors after graduation.

Jonesville High School held a school-wide assembly to recognize several students who earned honors from the College Board's National Recognition programs. The programs grant underrepresented student with academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications.

Brady Wright, Hannah Spencer, Tiana Palmer, Holland Thompson, Sierra Winter and Damion Scharer earned a National Rural and Small Town Award that's handed out to students who have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10, or by having earned a score of at least 3 on two or more AP Exams.

Four seniors were honored for award. Brady Wright has a 3.99 GPA and is looking to continue his education at Hillsdale College in the pre-med program. Wright reflected on the award and the assembly, and he believes that Jonesville gave him a great opportunity to help him pursue these honors and also helped other students recognize the potential they have to purse those opportunities as well.

"I wasn't expecting to win this award," said Wright. "It's always good to get recognition for academics and now they are honoring us. It shows how much Jonesville cares about what students do and how good they are at academics. That helps kids get recognized and get ready for the college."

Hannah Spencer senior, Michigan or Michigan State University, political science.

All of the seniors expressed just how much Jonesville's faculty has helped them prepare and find opportuniteis to apply for awards like this, and each senior believed school counselor Teryn Bugbee was a big part of that process for them personally. Hannah Spencer hopes to continue her studies at Michigan or Michigan State University and pursue a degree in political science. Spencer echoed the thoughts of her fellow seniors on how integral the faculty was in helping her apply for these awards that will aid her in her college applications.

"I'm really appreciative that I have gotten the award," said Spencer. "Jonesville works really hard to make students aware of all the scholarship opportunities. There's a lot of emails from teachers, especially Mrs. Bugbee, reminding us to apply and helping us apply. I went to Mrs. Bugbee to help me apply for this honor."

Senior Tiana Palmer looks to attend Trine University or Oakland after graduating. Palmer currently has a 4.042 GPA. Palmers agrees with her classmates about the important job Jonesville has played in helping her pursue these academic interests. She also emphasized how important of a role the school played in helping her grow to be a part of the community and to help others and how that has influenced her current choice of collegiate studies (physical therapy).

"All of my teachers have been super helpful to get me to pursue my academics," said Palmer. "They've tried to prepare me to be the best I can possibly be and helping me find opportunities to help people. Jonesville is a good community and school district to grow up in because they are very hands on helping people and helping the community and unintentionally that looks good on scholarships. It wasn't really something I was considering until I was in High School. Now, I am glad I had all those experiences because it makes me a better person and makes me more grateful for what I have."

Holland Thompson and Sierra Winter were also recipients of the award. Thompson hopes to attend Harvard or the University of Pennsylvania to study music and theater and eventually get a teaching degree. Sierra Winter plans to attend college and plans to each English as a second language.

In addition to being a recipient of College Board's National Rural and Small Town Award, Jonesville recognized Damion Scharer for being named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. Damion is one of 16,000 high school seniors nationwide, one of 456 Michigan seniors, and the first semifinalist Jonesville High School has had in over two decades.

Damion is the son of Dustin and Heather Scharer. Damion is a multi-sport student athlete at Jonesville and is the captain of the quiz bowl team and a member of student council. He represented JHS on the Youth Advisory Council. Damion has two younger brothers, Dominic and Dawson.

Damion entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program after taking a preliminary SAT qualifying test that serves as a screener of program entrants. Semifinalist will be asked to submit a detailed scholarship application in order to be considered a finalist. The finalists will compete for 2500 National Merit Scholarships and a host of other grants and scholarships that will be awarded by 160 colleges and universities. Winners will be announced in the spring of 2023.

"I was encouraged to do it by Mrs. Bugbee," said Scharer. "The teachers and administration has offered me tons of support and helped me prepare for this. It feels nice to make my family and community proud. I want to thank my parents for always encouraging me to be my best and work hard and I want to thank Mrs. Bugbee for helping me out with the application."

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Both of Damion's parents expressed how proud they are of his academic pursuits, and both believe he has even more great things ahead in his academic journey.

Counselor Teryn Bugbee has been working as the high school counselor for four years and has been working for the Jonesville school district for 10 years. Bugbee and the rest of the Jonesville faculty have been working hard at getting as much opportunities in front of their students as they can, including early-career learning opportunities, dual enrollment and mid-college. Bugbee and Jonesville schools also has been working toward expanding their outreach to bring Jonesville students as many scholarship and financial aid opportunities and making sure students have a support system to pursue those. Bugbee believes recognizing students with their peers and family in attendance is an important building block for spreading awareness of those pathways students have open to them. Bugbee also works with dozens of colleges and educational institutions on building those bridges between their students and the universities they may choose to attend.

"We have college reps and regional reps that reach out to us daily and ask to visit our students," said Bugbee. "They help put on the College Career Night that is coming in October at Hillsdale College. It's so cool to see this stuff happening in our community. October 17th is the Hillsdale Community Foundation College and Career night and it is held at the Searle Center in Hillsdale. It is available to all (sophomores, juniors and seniors). Here in Jonesville, we will have a financial aid workshop and presentation for senior parents and students where they can learn the financial aid process and the different kinds available. That is on October 19th at 6 p.m. We will also have a sophomore night in November where parents and students are invited to see what kind of pathways students have when they get into their junior and senior year of high school."

To learn more about Jonesville's academic counseling or other scholarship opportunities, reach out to the School District's superintendent office for more information.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Jonesville recognizes recipients of College Board honors