Being a champion

Tara Moritz

Grand Island Central Catholic

Being a champion is just more than receiving a medal or a trophy. It's about teamwork, hard work, and commitment. When i was on the 2007 state volleyball championship team, I learned a lot about what a team is all about. Winning a championship was great, but being on a team with tons of leadership and excitement was the best part. We had so many different personalities on the team which made playing so much fun. No matter how different we were, we all were shooting for one goal, and that was to win a championship. We knew it wouldn't be easy getting there. It would take practice, commitment, and lots of leadership. We knew we had lots of young and talented girls, but also we knew talent could only take us so far. Our coaches really helped us understand that winning wasn't everything, and we would have our ups and downs, but as long as we stuck togerther and became one team, we would become true champions.

SCHOOL

Walnut principal makes great impact

Brandon Pfeifer

Grand Island Central Catholic

I walked into Walnut as a shy and scared 6th grader, and came out as a much stronger and smarter 8th grader, ready more than ever for whatever the world had to throw at me. I have one person to thank for this, she changed the way I see things and taught me that may not live in a perfect world, but just one person can make it a little better.

To be honest, Walnut Middle School was huge, scary, and some of the other kids there were a little intimidatingat first. But then came along the woman who changed all that, by telling us that we were luckier than we thought. That we were sitting in one of America's best schools to attend, and she had an award to prove it. The year before me and my class had stepped through the doors she was accepting an award in Washington D.C. for being an extraordinary school; one that lacked the overwhelming problems of other schools, such as drug busts and violence. Now don't get me wrong, Walnut wasn't perfect, but everyone was a lot better off because she was making such a difference.

At the time of my sixth grade year, she had been principal for 15 years, so she had some experience under her belt. But when she took the position, not all of this glamour was handed to her. Back in the early nineties, when she was put in charge of Walnut Junior High (as it was formerly known) it had a bad reputation and a poor learning environment to say the least. It used to be one of those "other schools", one that had dogs coming in to sniff lockers in the hallways, and frequent police calls to break up fights after school. Walnut has broken away from that, thanks to her efforts in eliminating the violence.

Later in her career she was able to bring in a new program into the school called the Purple Hands Pledge. This pledge was said every morning by the students in class, and assemblies were held throughout the school year to help educate the kids on what violence and gangs do to schools. The Principal of Walnut Middle School, along with this program, were able to let this school soar to new heights, and to put it on the map as one of the nation's greatest education institutions.

Vikki Deuel, you have taken Walnut and put it somewhere no one could have possibly imagined where it could be. A place that now has one of the greatest reputations of a school in America. Because of what you did with Walnut, you have changed the outcome of countless lives, given kids a better chance to succeed when they step into high school, as well as for the rest of their lives. You have gone beyond the boundaries of what it means to be an educator, and what you leave behind will always be present at Walnut Middle School.