Alleghany Highlands Public Schools

AHS students Maggie and Hannah Hensley were among the students recognized at a Nov. 25 academic awards ceremony. 

Ceremony Recognizes AHPS Students for Academic Success

LOW MOOR — Alleghany High School continued a longstanding tradition on Nov. 25 by holding an academic awards ceremony.

Scheduled in late fall, after all results from the previous school year are finalized, and strategically timed “in-between” sports seasons to encourage maximum student attendance, the Academic Awards Ceremony is a tradition that originated at Covington High School. This tradition has been proudly adopted by Alleghany High School as part of the unified culture within Alleghany Highlands Public Schools.

The event recognizes students with two distinct awards: The Distinguished Scholar Award and The Scholar Award. The Distinguished Scholar Award is presented to students who achieve an “A” in every grading period, across all classes, for the entire school year. This award represents the highest level of academic excellence, requiring exceptional dedication and consistency. The Scholar Award recognizes students who maintain an “A” or “B” in every class, in each grading period, throughout the school year. Both awards are based on final end-of-course grades, ensuring a year-long standard of excellence is met.

Additional recognitions of academic achievements at AHS include various honor societies, graduation recognitions, senior academic awards presented each spring with many scholarships, and workforce signing day, among other opportunities for praise.

Here is a list of students recognized at the Nov. 25 academic awards ceremony: 

2024 Graduates: Distinguished Scholars

Matthew Clayton, Victoria Critzer, Christian Flenner, Sarah Francis, Abbie Fridley, Burton Graham, Travis Hicks II, Abigale Jones, Ian Kerns, Allyson Kessler, Kinsey Middleton, Samuel Moss, Baylee Peters, BreAnna Phillips, Destiny Redman, Breanna Reynolds, Harlie Reynolds, Casey Simmons, Riley Spangler, Christina Terrell, Adam Tremblay, and Riley Walker.

2024 Graduates: Scholars

Shanna Adkins, Hunter Bowyer, Caley Brown, Canyia Burks, Kole Caldwell, Anneliese Callow, Serenity Campbell, Macyn Cash, Andrew Cole, David Conner, Harley Crawford, Mason Dawson, Jordan Dingus, Holly Dressler, Bella Fuller, Elbert Graham III, Christopher Harden, Emily Lanahan, Nathaniel McKinney, Sadie Moye, Hayle Newman, Sara Pelkey, Nathaniel Phillips, Alaysha Scaggs, Taylor Scott, Caydin Shinault, Grayson Siers, Temrak Tucker, Elijah Weese, Gavin Welsh, Jackson Westfall, Aidan White, Abby Williams, and Lucien Wolfe.

2024 Juniors: Distinguished Scholars

Ronald Allen, William Close, Ella Hicks, Evelyn Jessee, and Shantia Sterling.

2024 Juniors: Scholars

Kenzie Arrington, Santana Broughman, Laken Cantrell, Daniel Clark, James Conner, Justin Craft, Elizabeth Dollyhigh, Eli Entsminger, Jacob Fridley, Delaney Hall, Landen Jones, Olivia Kessler, Sadie Kimberlin, Bryce Leitch, Davin May, Addison Morris, Kaitlyn Petrero, Alana Propps, Joseph Rogers, Tyra Rose, Mark Smith, Gavin Via, Lillian Williams, and Whitley Williams.

2024 Sophomores: Distinguished Scholars     

Dominic Brown, Victoria Campbell, Joowon Chung, Kylie Forbes, Olivia Gentry-Delgado, Brycen Griffith, Rebecca Harris, Faith Holt, Taylor Jenkins, Kathryn Johnson, Emma Linkenhoker, Carter Nicely, and Regan Paitsel.

2024 Sophomores: Scholars

Irian Baker, Breanna Brookman, Blayne Burley-Smith, Garrett Carper, Trey Cook, Justin Craft, Robert Fridley, Hannah Hensley, Braylon Johnston, Desmond Jordan, Michael King, Makaylee Loudermilk, Kiera Lowman, Alaina McCormick, Meredith Minter, Ethan Morris, Jayden Mundy, Nolan Nicely III, Tucker Phillips, Kai Rowland, Ezekiel Saville, Brenden Seckner, Kyleigh Simmerman, Emma Skidmore, Riley Smith, Kenneth Sprouse, Taylor Stayton, Eliza Unroe, and Emma Wolfe.     

2024 Freshmen: Distinguished Scholars

Silvio Brown, Cora Campbell, Kendra Dressler, Mason Hale, Elijah Halterman, Norah Jessee, Ava Lewis, Denise Lui, Alayla Morgan, Maranda Patterson, Emily Peters, Ayven Warren, and William Willis.   

2024 Freshmen: Scholars

Jordyn Bradshaw, Leigha Byers, Mylee Dunbar, Ean Entsminger, Sidney Fischer, Brooklynn Gaines, Maggie Hensley, Aiden Hinebaugh, Trevor Jonas, Colten Jones, Kenton Kirby, Kynsey Martin, Abigail Michael, Kara Nicely, William Paxton IV, Megan Powell, Nickolas Powell, Kenlee Quinlin, Jalen Raether, Hannah Redmon, Russell Reynolds, Trista Reynolds, Emmalyn Schultz, Brianna Terrell, Gage Wade, Daniel Walton, Analiese Webb, Isabella Willard, Khori Wills, Alexis Wolfe, and Noah Woodward. 

With approximately 2,700 students, AHPS was created when Alleghany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center merged in July 2022. The school division is jointly funded by Alleghany County and the City of Covington.