Schools find ways to honor seniors

    Andrews - When the principal of Andrews High School visited seniors at their homes last week, the students were full of smiles.
    Dr. Lisa Fletcher, joined by assistant principal Sarah Tatham and school resource officer Randy Phillips, was armed with yard signs recognizing each senior.
    “It was a surprise,” she said. “It was great to see them.”
    The signs were a product offered by Strawbridge Studios, the company that does the school’s photos. The company emailed Fletcher and told her several schools were ordering signs for their students.
    “I thought it would be great,” she said.
    Fletcher added that it wasn’t too expensive, either. Funds for the project came from a grant the school uses for student incentives.
    On April 20, she contacted each of the 42 seniors and told them she would be bringing them a surprise the next day.
    “I don’t think they had any idea what it would be,” Fletcher said.
    She was able to personally see 25 of her students that day, plus left the signs in
the yard of those who weren’t home. She said a lot of the students in the class work in town at Ingles and local restaurants, and she’s proud they are staying busy when not completing schoolwork.
    “They’ve been doing great,” Fletcher said. “They’ve been working hard. … It’s really a go-getter class.”
    She said this project was just the first surprise recognition for the senior class, and the next one is coming soon.
    Jason Forrister, principal of Murphy High School, also has some surprises for his 128 seniors, but in the meantime he has found ways to recognize them virtually. He has announced their achievements and college acceptances through both email as well as social media announcements.
    “This is definitely a special group,” Forrister said.
    “We want to give these kids an opportunity to feel appreciated.”
    In the days leading up to Senior Decision Day on May 1, he plans to virtually celebrate seniors in groups of no more than 10.
    Meanwhile, Alissa Cheek, principal of Tri-County Early College High School, has been coordinating efforts to help recognize all seniors in the county. A parent of one of her seniors, Melissa Anderson, had the idea to have a slideshow of senior photos displayed on her house at the entrance of Konehete Park in Murphy.
    “The family has always been great supporters of Tri-County Early College,” Cheek said. “I am not surprised that they would extend that support to all the senior students in Cherokee County.”
    The Early College has 35 graduating seniors. The plan is to start the slideshow Monday.
    Samantha Sinclair is the Scouting Around columnist for the Cherokee Scout. You can reach her by phone, 837-5122, Ext. 24; or email, scoutingaround@cherokee-scout.com.