As of Nov. 13, Mercer Island High School has implemented the Snailblazers award, which celebrates students who demonstrate traits valued at MIHS such as perseverance, curiosity and integrity. At the end of each quarter, five students from each grade are nominated by teachers for the award. All the Snailblazers head up to the front office where their picture is taken and they receive certificates.
The 20 Snailblazers this quarter are:
Freshmen: Riya Alagugurasamy, Sabrina Ennanova, Abigail Nissim, Shayna Smith-Cutright and Clara Stowe.
Sophomores: Olivia Azzano, Karis Chow, Ziva Levin, Pragna Prakash and Ina Shapiro.
Juniors: RJ Annest, Owen Clarkson, Gabby Frederick, Reese Hardisty and Maxwell Viafore.
Seniors: Ruball Dhillon, Sam Headrick, Saron Michael, Julius Perez and Quincy Tintle.
“I think that students like to be recognized for their hard work and integrity,” Chow said. “The Snailblazers award is a good way for teachers to acknowledge and encourage their students to be responsible, curious and enjoy learning.”
Teachers who teach the same grades meet up with each other every quarter to decide the Snailblazers. Each teacher nominates students during the meeting, and they then work together to decide on five students to become the Snailblazers that quarter.
“I think it’s a unique way that people can be recognized for what they’re doing because there’s a lot of different people doing different things that are equally impactful,” Clarkson said.
A special feature of this award is that it brings together students from different ages.
“Being able to recognize five different people from the four classes for similar things is something that I think is important,” Clarkson said.
Leslie Seelye, an English teacher and the creator of the award, feels MIHS does a great job celebrating students at the end of the year, especially with graduating seniors. However, she believes students of other grade levels should be recognized for their efforts as well, which pushed her to create the Snailblazers award.
“I began to think about ways that we could celebrate all of our students,” Seeyle said. “I kind of noticed that we have freshmen and sophomores and juniors and seniors doing a fantastic job … and I wanted to make sure that we are recognizing those students for their hard work throughout their school years.”
The first Snailblazer awards had a strong start and received lots of positive feedback. Lots of work went into organizing the awards; designing the poster and logo and getting it shown on The Current, the school’s TV program.
“I thought it was great,” Seelye said. “We had support from the admins, Mr. Rundle and Herbert the Snail was there as well.”
“It was cool to be recognized and I’m grateful that they thought I was doing stuff for the community, that was a great feeling,” Clarkson said.
“It was a nice surprise, I do my best at school and try to stay positive so it’s nice to be recognized,” Chow said.
Stay tuned for the next Snailblazer award announcement, which will happen near the end of the first semester!
