This year Palmetto Middle School held its first ever awards banquet to recognize the outstanding eighth grade students. Held at the Dadeland Marriott, with a dance immediately following, the event allowed the award winners to receive their accolades in front of their classmates in an upbeat, positive atmosphere.

Academic Achievement Award Winners for English, Math, Science and History (left to right):Yu Xin-Xin, Rogelio Fernandez, Yi Zhang, Daniel Glinn, Ali Rubin, Scott Johns, Kristina, Tristani, and Lauren Shofsky

Janet Hupp, Palmetto Middle principal, explained the purpose of the evening as a chance to, "acknowledge the achievements of our outstanding students in such a fashion that it encourages others to raise themselves up, but doesn’t put anyone down or make them feel bad about what they might not have accomplished."

The awards are all given an equal amount of weight for the most part, with perfect attendance regarded as highly as scholastic achievement. Hupp said the purpose of this is to stress that each award is important in its own way.

"We want the kids to feel good about positive contributions to the school, no matter in what fashion they might be. No award therefore should be considered much more prestigious than another."

There were several sponsored awards for the evening that didn’t necessarily fit into any of the other categories.

The American Legion Award — given to the students who best embody the characteristics that embody an outstanding American citizen, things like character, courage, honor, leadership, patriotism, scholarship, and service — was presented to Kathryn Lea and Max Dubin.

The Chamber South Award for citizenship and leadership was given to Amy Towsley and Ricky Guerrero. The Rotary Club Award for outstanding character was given to Marilia Nery and Jordan Sheckman, and Laura Glickman won the Kiwanis Award for highest grade point average.

Finally, the service awards were presented to Molly Barnett, who won the Pinecrest Service Award for her contributions to SADD and several other organizations, and Amanda Waas, who won the Prudential Spirit of Community award for her fundraising on behalf of the American Cancer Society and others.

The Principal’s Awards were created to recognize those who made truly outstanding contributions to the school during the year and was divided into the categories of Excellence, Service, E.S.E., Scholastic Achievement, and Attendance.

The Principal’s Award of Excellence, also known as the "unsung hero award," went to Devin Browne and Virginia Pearson for behind-the-scenes contributions to the school and unchanging, positive attitudes.

Scott Brewer and Jamie Kressel won the Principal’s Award for Service for their tireless contributions to the school. Gregory Phelan and Jessica Gershen won the awards for Scholastic Achievement for their daily, unyielding pursuit of academic excellence. The E.S.E. Students of the Year were Stephanie Miller and Albert Vavrina due to their hard work and improvement in all areas.

The Principal’s Award for Perfect Attendance was given to the following students: Charles Arnspiger, Natalie Baldeon, Robert Bernal, Devin Browne, Mollie Butler, Rayne Butler, Dario Calcines, Josin Chin-Sang, Victoria Crewdson, Norman Davy, Kevin East, Heather Gelbard, Yenifer Gonzalez, Avis Hall, Samantha Jean-Claude, Shadi Kablawi, Jennifer Lavine, Camille Mattison, Suresh Narayanan, Virginia Pearson, Borja Polo, Rhea Russell, Kibbe Sandin, Jessica Sawhney, Jorguen Sussman, and Yi Zhang.

Specific Academic Awards were also given in nearly every subject as a means of recognizing the individuals who were outstanding in each area of study.

Alexandra Rubin won the Gifted U.S. History Award, while the other U.S. History award was won by Kristina Tristani. The two winners for Algebra I Honors were Lauren Shosfy and Xin-Xin Yu, and the Mathematics winners were Scott Johns and Rachel Mervis. Daniel Glinn won the Gifted Language Arts Award, and the Language Arts award was won by Erica Hills. The Honors Physical Science Award was won by Yi Zhang, and Rogelio Fernandez won the Comprehensive Science Award.

In the practical arts, Joseph Harper won the Achievement Award for Computer Technology. Gina Ortega won the Industrial Arts award. Christopher Farmer captured the award for Business Applications, while Mishelle Rivera won for Family and Consumer Science. Mollie Butler was the winner in Speech and Debate.

In the foreign language department, Michelle Bermudez won for French I and Anik Chavez for French II. Jeffrey Dubbin and Nikki Matters won for Spanish I and Howard Scott took the prize for Spanish II. Spanish Speakers I was awarded to Cristina Mills, and Vanessa Delaguarda won for Spanish Speakers II. Hebrew II was won by Amanda Waas, while English as a Second Language I was won by Xin-Xin Yu.

For the fine arts, Briana Ballatiere won Dance. The Drama Awards were given to Martha Thompson and Anthony Passafuma. The Achievement Awards for Music were given to Nicole Giroux and Brian Ray.