“We are here to honor our students and their academic accomplishments.We are very proud of each and every student and we are lucky to honor them,” said Michelle Martin as she stood in front of a packed gym Monday night before freshmen received their cords.

The 24th was a special night for the class of 2023. With an arrangement of colorful cords laid a number of accomplishments that were only proper to wear around the neck, in direct view and with satisfaction. Down the stretch of each year those with high enough academics are able to receive the corresponding colored cord to wear at graduation. Freshmen got their first taste of this prestigious award through a enriching ceremony that is meant to push them to realize their hard work does not go unnoticed.

“I think it’s important that we get the cords because it motivates us to be better especially since we are freshmen and are new to everything that is going on. Having a ceremony like this, for at least our first time, is very cool and memorable,” said freshman student Danieh Alani.

The ceremony began with a variety of speakers including Michelle Martin who welcomed, Heidi Moya and Melanie Hallock who announced recipients’ names, and Principal David Vines who closed the night off. All speakers congratulated students and challenged them to not let their drive to perform to their peak potential dwindle.

“It is our hope that in your graduation gown that you will have eight renassiance cords around your neck,” said teacher Melanie Hallock to the freshmen crowd.

The cords honored only the highest accomplishments of the freshmen class. The evening of the 24th, the colors consisted of gold, burgundy, green, and silver. Students earning all A’s or all A’s and honor B’s became gold members with the gold cord sitting snug around their neck. The gold section of students was the largest and was given the opportunity to sit closest to the front during the gathering to be honored for their highest award. Students earning A’s, B’s, and honor C’s with a GPA of 4.0 or greater became burgundy members and followed the gold. Those earning A’s, B’s, and honors C’s with a GPA of 3.5 to 3.9 became green members. Finally, students earning A’s, B’s and honors C’s of 3.0 to 3.4 received the silver cord. As a total, there were 374 freshmen students at Mountain Ridge who qualified for the Renaissance program this past fall semester. As a matter of fact, the ceremony had to be held in the big gym this year over the auditorium due to the surplus of recipients.

“I thought it ran faster than what I had expected considering the crowd and it was cool to see how many other kids in our grade were doing so well academically,” said freshman Taylor Raney.

The hard work that lay with each student there was incredible. The countless studying sessions, sacrifices, and long nights led to a huge academic honor that, at graduation, will be displayed and valued.

“I think [this cord] is important, but the real significance is found at graduation when we have all of the cords we collectively achieved on, not just one tiny one for freshman year’s first semester,” said freshman Taylan Quail.

The ship has only set sail for these freshmen students who still have three more important years ahead of them in their journey. This night was a privilege and it was no coincidence that each and every student was there. They worked for what was read in their gradebook and that is why the celebratory first time was given to the youth on the campus.

“We specifically chose the name renaissance because the Renaissance was a historical era where intellectual and artistic achievements were very important. Our renaissance recognition program honors our student’s academic achievements each semester,” said Martin.

The chance to accumulate seven more cords can be the future for these freshmen if they keep working hard and aiming for superiority with distinction. Their teachers and Mountain Ridge are all on their side and want this class to have an unparalleled story of success.

If a cord was not in your future this semester, there are many more chances to get the feeling of pride in triumph and the results that bring you a smile. Study hard and believe in the process as the results are worth it. Congratulations freshmen and keep working to that next cord. Use the cord as an obligation to yourself to keep racking them up every semester, for every year, until graduation day.