66 Lacey Students Honored for Exceptional Academic Achievement

The Lacey Board of Education honored student achievement during its meeting Monday night in a celebration of student scores on state tests.

In total 54 students were honored for scoring perfect 300s on at least one portion of their state achievement tests. The students honored ranged from elementary school to high school grade levels.

After congratulating the students and their parents, Superintendent Richard Starodub stated, “I’d like to thank the teachers, administration and supervisors who provide the curriculum and quality instruction to assist them [the students] in achieving the immeasurable goal of a perfect score.

“It’s not every day you get to be perfect, but tonight they were perfect,” said board member Eric Shubiger.

“Congratulations kids—perfect—I mean wow. Wow,” added board member William Quist.

The board also honored 11 high school students whose class rank and SAT scores would have made them Bloustein Scholars. Starodub explained the state has discontinued the scholarship program, but the board felt it was important to continue to honor student achievement and dubbed the qualifying students “Lacey Scholars.”

“These are giant individual accomplishments,” said Starodub of the students’ scholastic achievements. 

He added unfortunately the state has also discontinued the $1,000 scholarship award the Bloustein Scholars used to receive, and this is not something the school district could reinstate alongside the recognition.

To qualify as a “Lacey Scholar” students must have been ranked first, second, or third in their class at the end of their junior year or be in the top percent of their class with a combine score of 1260 on the Critical Reading and Math portions of the SATs by December of their senior year.

The “Lacey Scholars” recognized at the school board meeting included Kelsey Devery, Jaqueline Sumski, Erin McGuire, Lindsay Ruhlin, Alexandra Capatasto, Todd Grieb, Wes Darcy, Michael Martenak, James DiGenno, Melanie Belinsky, and Patrick Thompson.

Starodub also recognized one final student when he noted that a new wooden podium present at the meeting had been built by the students of high school woodshop teacher James Dickhouse, with the bulk of the work performed by student Quincy DeRossi.

 “We were desperately in need and could not afford a new podium,” said Starodub. “It is a fine piece of craftsmanship”

Starodub noted while many high schools have discontinued woodshop classes, Lacey has always seen them as valuable.

“You can see the results and lifelong skills they give people,” said Starodub as he gestured at the new podium.