For the 60th time, the Rotary Club of Covington held its annual Top 10 ceremony to honor the many exemplary seniors in Newton County Schools.
Led by Club President Tarrence Houston and event host Keith Adams, the Rotary Club holds this event every year to showcase the 10 graduates from Alcovy, Eastside and Newton high schools who were at the top of their class.
Following opening remarks from Houston and Adams, the students heard from Superintendent Dr. Duke Bradley III. Bradley, who is midway through his second year as superintendent, reminded the students on how important they were to not just the school system, but the overall community.
“You are not just students with high GPAs,” Bradley said. “You are scholars, you are athletes, you are leaders, you are artists, you are innovators [and] you are people that we admire. You help to shape our community. You bring legitimacy to our community. There are no extraordinary communities without extraordinary young people.”
Bradley also highlighted the resilience that this senior class has shown. Just this school year alone, students faced extended closures due to Hurricane Helene, the BioLab fire and multiple winter weather shutdowns.
But despite the obstacles, Bradley praised the exemplary students for all of their accomplishments despite the many difficulties of the school year.
“You’re not just the top of your class,” Bradley said. “You are the standard bearers for what is possible in all of Newton County Schools.”
The keynote speaker for this year’s ceremony was Bret Dunn, a local attorney, Marine Corps veteran and proud 2013 Alcovy High School alum.
Dunn shared a message of empathy and kindness to the students, reminding them to care for others.He closed by demonstrating how difficult experiences do not diminish one’s value.
Dunn pulled out a $20 bill and proceeded to crumple it up. He then took the bill, straightened it out and reminded the audience that the bill still had value despite its wrinkles and flaws.
“There’s so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us. It hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us,” Dunn said. “What I would challenge you to do is have grace with people in your interactions… Love the people next to you, love the people that you lead and seek every single day to serve and help others.”
The top 10 students for Alcovy High School and their selected teachers are as follows, beginning with the valedictorian and salutatorian:
Francisco Alvarado (Ryan Allred), Nevaeh Craven (Roberta Axson), Kianna Felix (Jasmine El-Jourbagy), Omar Garcia (Zachary Pitts), Ivan Jackson (Andrew Pollard), Kayli Keophy (Jasmen Moore), Alani Munoz (Cynthia Cannon), Valeria tapia Padilla (Taylor Moody), Kayla White (Amy Fraser) and Kaitlyn Williams (Brittany Beland).
The top 10 students for Eastside High School and their selected teachers are as follows, beginning with the valedictorian and salutatorian:
Ian White (Elijah Clark), Malachi Scharf (Michael Poor), Kaiden Blazina (Haley Dawkins), Abby Malcom (Sara Beth Hammond), Shelby Moore (Alisa Echols), Annalie Parker (Catrina Pollard), Chandler Shurtz (Kelly Elder), Robby Thomas, Jr. (Kayla Stoddard), Anna Underwood (Eric Adams), and Benjamin Weaver (Caleb Watson).
The top 10 students for Newton High School and their selected teachers are as follows, beginning with the valedictorian and salutatorian:
Aniya Wren (Alianna Evans), Nicol Vives (Cecily Gunter), Karian Christmas (Maureen Ryan), Isaiah Edmonson (Enedine Andre-Perales), Jaylen Fannin (Taylor Moody), Halyn Hall (Kelly Elder), Alainah Jackson (Marcus Williams), Jasim Momin (Ryan Allred), Joshua Patterson (Jasmine El-Jourbagy) and Patricia Phillips (Zach Ames).
