Area students receive National Machinery awards

The 65th annual National Machinery Citizenship Awards were presented Monday at Seneca East High School to 17 seniors from Seneca and Wyandot county high schools including Hopewell-Loudon, Mohawk, New Riegel, Old Fort and Seneca East. The ceremony honored over 80 students who displayed good citizenship, conduct, proper attitude and conscientiousness during their high school years. The awards aim to recognize those who are using their high school years to become a more responsible citizen post-graduation. John Davoli, Director of NCORcog (North Central Ohio Educational Service Center) said the awards "are selected by each school through a voting and ranking process." "In this troubled world of ours, you do give us hope," he said to the students. "You give us hope for a bright future." State Senator William Reineke, the guest keynote speaker of the event, told the students that "being conscientious is one of the reasons you were chosen today." Reineke, a Fostoria native and a St. Wendelin High School graduate, emphasized the best way students can respect themselves is to respect others, take care of themselves and make responsible decisions moving forward. "Maximize your research and explore," he said. "Plan your work, work your plan." Cash awards were announced by Brenda Luhring, Superintendent and CEO of NCORcog. "These cash awards, once again, will not be going to every single student," Luhring told the students, "but please know that you are here because your schools believe that you exemplified what a good individual looks like on a day-to-day basis." The cash awards were presented to the following students: Abigail Beidelschies of Hopewell-Loudon, daughter of Tim and Jill Beidelschies; Kade Nelson of Hopewell-Loudon, son of Jess and Kendra Nelson; Hope Kreais of Hopewell-Loudon, daughter of Gary and Jenny Kreais; Maria Colatruglio of Hopewell-Loudon, daughter of Brian and Jessica Colatruglio; Lily Hammer of Mohawk, daughter of Dan and Andrea Hammer; Kendyll Gurney of Mohawk, daughter of Brian and Jessica Gurney; Kennedy Cleveland of Mohawk, daughter of Brock and Sunshine Cleveland; Nicole Elchert of New Riegel, daughter of Rodney and Sara Elchert; Jacob Clouse of New Riegel, son of Matthew and Tammy Clouse; William Clouse of New Riegel, son of Geoffrey and Michelle Clouse; Parker DuBois of Old Fort, son of Ryan and Tricia DuBois; Rachel Anstead of Old Fort, daughter of Robert and Robin Anstead; Andrew Combs of Old Fort, son of Matt and Connye Combs; Amelia Boes of Seneca East, daughter of Aaron and Carrie Boes; Bryce Reiter of Seneca East, son of Matthew and Angie Reiter; Shayden Heiser of Seneca East, son of Irvin and Sharlene Heiser; and Autumn Enders of Seneca East, daughter of Casey and Patricia Enders. After the cash awards were presented, Larry Baker from the National Machinery Foundation announced he would be giving out two additional awards. The foundation gives four $15,000 scholarships to students who attend high school in Seneca County or are the children of National Machinery employees, Baker said, noting two of the chosen recipients are from county schools. Scholarships were presented to Jacob Clouse of New Riegel and Parker DuBois of Old Fort.