Brian Roebke photo
The Kaukauna Elks Lodge honored Wrightstown High School’s Top 10 students in the Class of 2022 last week. Front: Past State President Jerry Brien, Carissa Hendricks, Kaitlyn Rohan, Janet Seidl, Abby Van Zeeland, and Exhalted Ruler Kathy Brien. Back: Carson Cunningham, Layton Helphrey, Scott Thompson, and Jason Uitenbroek. Not pictured: Maddy Collins, Josey Puzen, and Emma Geib.
By Brian Roebke
Editor
For 58 years now, the Kaukauna Elks Lodge #962 has been holding a student recognition banquet for the Top 10 academic students in the Class of 2022 of five area high schools and giving plaques to valedictorians.
This year’s banquet, held April 25 at Van Abel’s of Hollandtown, was the latest opportunity for the Elks to recognize students from Kaukauna, Kimberly, Little Chute, Freedom, and Wrightstown high schools.
Wrightstown’s Top 10 students are Maddy Collins, Carson Cunningham, Emma Geib, Layton Helphrey, Carissa Hendricks, Josey Puzen, Kaitlyn Rohan, Janet Seidl, Abby Van Zeeland, and Jason Uitenbroek.
Master of Ceremonies Jerry Brien, who just completed two years of service as state president, told the students they achieved something very special in the classroom. “I know it wasn’t always easy because there’s peers out there that are saying, ‘why do you study so much,’ ‘why do you do that,’ ‘why don’t you have more fun with us,’ … but you continued to persevere through that and you did achieve that high standard,” he said.
Wrightstown High School Principal Scott Thompson talked about some teachers who inspired him while he was in school.
“Everybody here in some way or another has benefitted from great teachers at a variety of levels and hopefully who are leaving to the next level will continue to benefit from those great teachers,” he said.
Thompson told students when they leave high school it’s less about what teachers cover and more about what the students want to discover.
He said Wrightstown’s top 10 students are all leaders, both outgoing and verbal as well as the quiet ones who lead by example.
“They lead in the classroom, on the athletic fields, and in the community,” he said. “They lead by what they stand for, the choices they make. They’re all highly dedicated individuals who provide stability in the school and inspire their teachers with their work ethic and constant quest for knowledge.”
After being introduced by Thompson, all students introduced their parents and revealed their plans for after high school.