Students honored at TJ

You can feel it in the air that the school year is nearing the end. The sun is shining, the weather is warmer and schools are holding assemblies at which they present high achievers and athletes with awards or certificates.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School held its awards ceremony last week in the TJ gym.

Parents filled the TJ gymnasium on Thursday, bringing with them younger family members, who jumped up when their sibling was announced. Cell phone cameras were clicking away during the entire ceremony.

Jalie Grundt was introduced as valedictorian, while Omar Lopez Raya was introduced as salutatorian.

Awards were presented to teacher-selected students in eighth grade. Receiving awards in this category were: Carlos Acosta, Camila Almanza Cruz, Jocelyn Barrera, Rigoberto Campos, Juan Castillo, Diego Gomez, Julie Grundt, Fernando Lopez Arevalo, Omar Lopez Raya, Kaleb Lowe, Alyssa Gabriel Maldonado, Madison Martinez, Andrew Montano Lopez, Farmer Moreno, Gisell Ocampo, Nadia Ornelas, Zayda Orpineda Herrera, Javier Perez, Karly Perez, Priscilla Raya, Daniel Rodriguez, Daniela Ruiz, Joseph Scott, Elisa Solis and Lilliana Valdez.

In addition, the following students were presented with specialized awards. Yuridia Tovar Garcia was awarded Art Student of the Year; Savannah Arellano was the Band Student of the Year; E'sabella Guivas was named seventh-grade Female Athlete of the Year; Glenn Matthew was honored as seventh-grade Male Athlete of the Year; Bella Lopez was the eighth grade Female Athlete of the Year, and Izaiah Juarez was named eighth-grade Male Athlete of the Year.

Cougars of the Year were Izaiah Juarez and Nadia Ornelas.

The students were announced by Principal Danny Arellano, Vice Principal Patrick Acosta or Vice Principal Zachary Ellis.

According to the program, the students were selected by staff members for their exceptional abilities in athletics, academics, art and other school activities.