The Chickamauga Lions Club last week sponsored its annual Madaris-Walker Academic Honors Reception for Gordon Lee High School.
Among those recognized were Kathy Stansell as Teacher of the Year, Heather Solomon as Star Teacher and Courtney Meadows as Star Student for 2012.
Amy Strickland, winner of the Johnie Peoples Memorial Scholarship; Lions Club treasurer Jim Touchton; Brandon Brown, winner of the James Holcombe Memorial Scholarship; Lions Club president Donna Calhoun; and Monica Prince, winner of the Grover Newman Memorial Scholarship.Not only was she named Star Student for the Year, Meadows was among the 60 - slightly more than 53 percent - of this year's 113 seniors who will graduate with a B or better grade point average.
Overall, a little more than 60 percent of the school's total enrollment of 459 students attained a B or better grade point average, according to principal Clay Crowder.
"The mind is the most powerful thing you possess," said keynote speaker Don Martin, a Lions Club member and someone active in prison ministry. "Keep it cleaned out, keep it focused and make good decisions."
He recounted his meeting a convicted bank robber and recast the biblical account of Joseph. For each of those men - one an inmate at Hays State Prison and the other a man sold into slavery who rose to become, aside from Pharaoh, the most powerful man in ancient Egypt - life was decided by how they chose to live, he said.
As part of the evening's program, the Lions presented three memorial scholarships to honor outstanding seniors and former club members.
"The three memorialized were involved with school," Lion Jim Touchton said before announcing this year's winners. "They loved all the kids in this school, were active in school activities and appreciated what Gordon Lee means to this community."
Brandon Brown was presented this year's $1,000 James Holcome Memorial Scholarship. Brown plans to attend either the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga or Chattanooga State Technical Community College.
Monica Prince, who intends to enroll at either UTC or Dalton State College in the fall, was awarded the $500 Grover Newman Memorial Scholarship.
Amy Strickland, recipient of the $500 Johnie Peoples Memorial Scholarship, will attend Berea College, about 40 miles south of Lexington, Ky.
"It was difficult to decide," Touchton said. "Every one of the 19 applicants was deserving of a scholarship to help further their education."