Seniors honored with Citizenship Awards

BASCOM—The 66th annual National Machinery Citizenship Awards were presented to high school seniors Monday evening, hosted at Hopewell-Loudon Schools. In attendance were senior candidates from Hopewell-Loudon, Mohawk, Old Fort Local School, New Riegel School and Seneca East. The event began at 7 p.m. with John Davoli, director of NCORcog, presenting a welcome as the master of ceremonies. Local superintendents and principals were also in attendance to represent their schools and present pins to each student for their accomplishments. During the ceremony, the school administrators were introduced by Brenda Luhring, superintendent and CEO of North Central Ohio Educational Service Center. Local administration included Superintendent Matt White and Principal Brian Rothrock of Hopewell-Loudon; Superintendent Jeff Holbrook and Principal Robert Chevalier of Mohawk; Superintendent David Rombach and Principal Justin Johnson of New Riegel; Superintendent Laura Bryant and Principal Erica Cobb of Old Fort; and Superintendent Laura Kagy and Principal David Danhoff of Seneca East. Aaron Montz, president of Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership, was featured as the keynote speaker of the event. Montz discussed his early days of running for mayor and the different accomplishments he made along the way. He highlighted the importance of having positive connections with others, surrounding yourself with good people and taking pride within the city and ethics that you represent. "Whether it's spending time in Seneca County, or going out into your future careers in communities across the state—across the world—remember citizenship, pride and ethics because that's what's going to get you where you need to be in life," Montz said during his speech. Next, cash awards were awarded to the following seniors: Ashley Daniel of Hopewell-Loudon; Hayden Welly of Hopewell-Loudon; Alaina Zirger of Hopewell-Loudon; Erica Zirger of Hopewell-Loudon; Ryan Bogner of Mohawk; Shelby Danner of Mohawk; Josephine Smith of Mohawk; Elena Zamora of Mohawk; Lauren Gabel of New Riegel; Ava Goshe of New Riegel; Adam Magers of Old Fort; Clayton Sooy of Old Fort; Ava Wasserman of Old Fort; Lainey Cessna of Seneca East; Isaac Mason of Seneca East; Haylee Steinmetz of Seneca East; and Dreama Vonderberg of Seneca East. The winners were chosen from a ranking system within each school. "I'd like to thank all these seniors, you give us hope for the future," said Davoli in closing. According to the National Machinery Foundation, the purpose of the citizenship awards is to focus the attention of high school students on the importance of good citizenship, conduct, attitude and conscientiousness.