Bear River High School plans to salute the hard work of its valedictorians and salutatorian with an annual banquet, complete with speeches and remembrance of all that it took for the graduating Seniors to reach this point.

According to Key Club Advisor Jeff Carrow, who will be speaking at the dinner, the banquet will take place on the night of Tuesday, May 28, at the Higgins Diggins Lions Club at Crossroads Church. Bear River will be recognizing 10 valedictorians and one salutatorian, and each of them will have a teacher to speak specifically about their accomplishments.

“The students choose a teacher that they feel has been impactful on their life, and then that teacher writes and delivers sort of a custom speech that relieves some of their accomplishments and academic achievements over the previous three or four years… in addition to other things like community service and athletic achievements,” Mr. Carrow said. “And then, there’s usually a little bit of a look of where they’re going to college and what they’re going to do in the next year and what their major is going to be.”

Senior and valedictorian Madelyn Wilson said that she’s one of the students who chose Mr. Carrow to speak on her behalf. She described what she thinks it takes to be an academically successful student.

“For me basically school comes first always,” she said. “I’ve had straight A’s since I was a freshman… most of my life has been about schoolwork for the past four years.”

Fellow valedictorians and Seniors Asa O’Callaghan and Nicolette Antisdel both said something similar, emphasizing the time commitment and focus academic accomplishment requires.

“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, you have to be willing to take advanced classes and you have to be willing to put a lot of time into those classes, you really can’t slack off at all,” said O’Callaghan.

“I guess working hard and doing your work and studying when you need to,” said Antisdal. “I’ve always tried to get A’s in my classes and just do well.”

Mr. Carrow said that Key Club members have been asked to work the event, as opposed to the volunteers of previous banquets, and explained what that entailed.

“Key Club [is going to] serve and basically set up and work the event as a staff,” he said. “I think historically it’s been some parent volunteers, and the actual scholarship coordinator herself, and so the Key Club I was contacted several weeks ago to see if there might be some Key Clubbers, … who might be interested in… setting up the tables, and probably putting out the food on the banquet tables and checking on waters, and then tidying it all up afterward.”

Mr. Carrow has been attending the event for many years now, and said that he enjoys it and looks forward to going again this year on the 28th.

“It’s a very nice little tribute to those students who have given their very best efforts academically,” Mr. Carrow said.