End of Year Goings-On

(published 1/10/24)

Thursday, May 11th:
Liza did Cat's nails for prom

Friday, May 12th:
The boys' soccer team competed in the state championship at Real Salt Lake's

Rio Tinto Stadium. Cat had been practicing with and managing the team for 4 years,

and Robert was a defender on the team. The game ended with a loss, but it was

awesome that they even made it that far, and we loved cheering them on.

My favorite moment from the game had nothing to do with soccer.
The field is sponsored by America First Credit Union, so it's called
America First Field. I was sitting near a bunch of kids and overheard one of
them telling the rest of the group, "Did you know this is America's first field?!?"

Saturday, May 13th

Cat attended Prom with Robert. She wore a dress we randomly found

at a run-of-the-mill dress store in a mall several months earlier.

Cat and Robert were voted Prom King and Queen (independently

of each other). It was truly a magical night.

Sunday, May 14th

Cat modeled her Prom Queen crown with the BYU

sweatshirt I made her (per her request).

Friday, May 19th

Yearbook Day

Cat's Senior Tribute

I was looking through Jack's autographs after school and this one made me smile.

Me: Guess what Mr. Simmons wrote.

J: ?
Me: Three words.

J: I love you?
Me: What do you think he would want you to do this summer?

J: Read?
Me: What kind of books?
J: Read old books?

Sunday, May 21st

Seminary Graduation

Thursday, May 25th
Last Day of School and the Maeser Awards Ceremony

Ben and I received an email informing us that Cat would be recognized at the Awards Ceremony. We knew she was valedictorian, and we assumed she'd be awarded for athletics, but she was actually called down to the floor for four different recognitions.

The first surprise was that the MS girls' soccer team, which she helped coach (very well, according to the parent and player feedback I heard), were recognized and received medals for winning the state championship.

Next, Cat was named Female Student of the Year. The aforementioned Mr. Simmons, who is the high school dean and the mens' and womens' soccer coach, called Cat "the most dominant athlete we've ever had in any sport, male or female."

In order to break up all the awards and accolades, a few of the DWTT acts were invited

to reprise their performances. Of course the Boys' HS Soccer team performed again, and

Liza made an appearance at the end of this middle school group:

Cat was recognized two more times. The first we knew was coming: Cat was officially recognized as Valedictorian. The second was a big surprise. The school's motto is Truth, Honor, Virtue. Three students were given awards for demonstrating one each of those values. Then, the headmistress introduced the Karl G. Maeser Award, which was for a student who embodied all three values. She began describing the student and reading off teachers' nomination statements and I started to think the description sounded like Cat. Sure enough, it was Cat!

I hadn't recorded Mrs. Ellis's remarks, but she was kind enough to email me afterward:

Brett,

It has been such a pleasure to get to know Cat and your family.  She's a kindred spirit.  I so appreciate you and your family for all your support and charity.  I wanted to get this to you as promised before this day gets away from me.  This is one of my favorite parts of Maeser and I'm so happy to share it with you.

"I remember the very first day this student walked into my math classroom as a timid 7th grader who knew how to be the picture perfect student. She was one of the only 7th graders in math 1, was quiet and attentive in class, and always did everything that was asked of her. Through her Maeser career, it has been amazing to see this picture perfect student learn how to truly learn and seek truth. It wasn't easy for her as she ran into things that were hard, which causes many picture perfect students to stumble and doubt, but not her. She learned how to struggle, grow, and persevere through hard things. Not only did she grow personally, but she brought up those around her as well. This is clear when looking at her academic, athletics, and leadership accomplishments she has made throughout the last 6 years. Teaching her now, I see a totally different student than that 7th grader who walked into my classroom. She is now loud and disruptive in class and questions things that are asked of her, in the very best way, causing everyone to question their thinking and push their understanding, even myself."

--Steinhorst

"What impresses me most about her is the way she interacts with the people around her. She is kind, quietly helps students around her- meaning she doesn’t do so for recognition- she sees when someone is struggling and helps like it’s second nature. She has helped me- she is generous with compliments about me as a teacher and appreciation for the art history I share in classes. Teaching can be difficult and tiring, and every once in a while her kindness lifts me up."

-- Houghton

"Last year, this student stayed after class to ask some questions. Questions that she knew would force her to shift her perspective of how she viewed a specific situation, and questions that I think she knew would force her to struggle and grow. That's who she is. She is wise enough to know that she doesn't know everything, and humble enough to ask the questions that will lead her to more understanding and truth. My conversations with her for the past few years have repeatedly led me to respect both her willingness to confront where she is and her incredible work ethic that propels her to where she wants to be. She is a great example of what Maeser stands for both on and off the soccer field, and I'm grateful to have had the privilege of teaching her."

-- Cannon  

Sincerely,

Robyn

Liza and some of her crew (with a friend's Senior sister)

Side note: I think there might be better pictures from the awards ceremony somewhere in the digital media corps's cloud storage but I have emailed the teacher a couple of times and not received a response. Here's hoping she gets back to me one of these days and I can add better pictures here.