Colton, CA–An overflowing Whitmer Auditorium buzzed on Thursday night as Renaissance hosted its annual Winter Awards ceremony, recognizing student performance during the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year.

At the event, nearly 600 students were presented with award certificates for Honor Roll, Principal’s Honor Roll, and Top 10 for the highest achievers. This year’s Honor Guard, the top 20 juniors who will participate in this year’s graduation ceremony, were also named.

The ceremony had a huge turnout. “I was surprised there was a lot of people, but I think it went really good with the amount of awards we had to give out,” said Renaissance member Esperanza Ventura, who emceed the event. 

Parents and family weren’t the only ones out to support student success. Teachers and mentors that have had these Yellowjackets in class celebrated their students, too. 

“The whole point of this night award ceremony is to recognize our hard-working and focused students,”  said Activities Director and Renaissance Advisor Alexandra Buskirk, “and to show them that hard work matters and will pay off and give them motivation to try their hardest.”

Moments like these are important to our Yellowjackets, to show appreciation for their hard work and dedication. 

Sophomore Anthony Florez  is thankful for the support he received during the ceremony, “It was an amazing and good feeling to be up there on stage because I know I worked hard for it, and I definitely recommend to everyone to try their hardest to show the dedication they put in.”