Walnut Grove Shines: GHP Semifinalist Announced

Walnut Grove High School is beaming with excitement as several students have been named semifinalists for the prestigious Governor’s Honors Program, showcasing their excellent skills and dedication along the way.
by Rylee Watson and Talia Banks

Students Arynn Clayton, Alina Casteneda, Madeline Glaze, Zoe Higdon, and Hudson Smith have traveled to interviews, different organized meetings, and many other things to perform their skills, the last travel to Georgia Southern for a summer program. Being selected to participate in this program means growing and strengthening knowledge, recognizing dedication within the classroom, shares achievements along the way, and provides unique opportunities for advanced learning and personal growth among Georgia’s most talented students.

One of the few students, Arynn Clayton, was chosen for the social studies aspect of the program. Having the opportunity to be involved in this program has helped Arynn gain perspective and new ways to persevere through challenges. She expresses,“[GHP] benefits me because it's like the top of the top. That's what I've been told, and basically, it just benefits me because in the future when I put out college applications, they’ll notice the program.”

Arynn was quite shocked when she heard the news of being selected. Mr. Belflower saw her commitment and range of skill, and he chose to recommend her for GHP. She shares, “I didn't even know I was selected until the counselors told me I had been selected but I found out that my Social Studies teacher (Mr. Belflower) selected me.” She continues, “I've learned that I'm smart, you know, I'm good at Social Studies, and I've learned that I can persevere through a lot of things.”

Two additional students, Hudson Smith and Zoe Higdon were nominated for their dedication in music and biology, respectively. Zoe explains what GHP is to her, “It's basically when a teacher nominates you in a field your really good at, and then if you make it through semifinals and finals, you get to go Georgia Southern over the summer to study the topic you were chosen for.” 

In agreement, Hudson expresses the challenges he overcame within the program, “I think it takes a lot of hard work and passion about your subject, and that's something I bring to the table for the program.” He continues, “I learned that I am probably going to pursue music even more than I wanted to before I got into the program.”

Zoe shares her goals for her own career path. She says, “When I’m older I want to pursue a career in biology and I felt it would be a great experience for me to start learning hands on, like with biology and different stuff. I will just further my knowledge in that field.” Hudson says, “…we got to practice a lot of different things just to prepare for the audition, band hasn't done ours yet, we still have a couple weeks to practice before hand. So, I just have been having fun, kind of riding that out.” 

Zoe and Hudson both agree they were highly satisfied with their results within the program and the past events.

Zoe shares the perspective on how she thinks this year is going, “It's been really good, over the weekend we went to semifinals and interviewed to see if we could get into finals and it was really good because, again biology is just something I'm really passionate about and I’m very excited to see if i got in.” Hudson added, “It's going pretty good so far: the music field hasn't had auditions for the finals yet, but they are on the fifteenth. I have just been doing everything I can to prepare and prepare myself and my skills for that. We are asked to do a interview and sight read, which is just reading or playing a sheet of music you haven’t seen before. Just the application process is the only con. Some pros: it gives you a drive to accomplish what your setting up to do, but it's also a lot of hard work for certain fields.” 

The students chosen to participate in the program were extremely honored and greatly appreciated the responsibility given to them. Zoe notes, “I felt very honored because it a big deal. Like I said, I’m just excited to get to learn more if I get through semifinals and finals.”  Hudson adds, “I was really excited, I'm very happy that I got this opportunity and happy that our programs trust me and the other members nominated with this responsibility... I learned that I am probably going to pursue music even more than I wanted to before I got into the program.”

Being in the GHP takes hard work and dedication, but being involved is highly beneficial in the long run. Zoe expresses, “Some pros, there's a lot, like I get to learn more about biology, which is something I’m really passionate about. One con would just be having to go and stay for a whole month, which is kind of scary because I haven’t done that before, but I think it’ll be really fun.” She continues, “I've learned that I am actually really good on the spot, like in interviewing. I was also good at answering questions at the semifinals.” Hudson explains, “I think it takes a lot of hard work and passion about your subject, and that's something I bring to the table for the program.” Zoe shares, “I feel like I'm a very determined person, and it's a field that I'm very interested in and want to pursue in the future, so I feel like I provide a sense of hard work and being passionate about your skill.”

All of these students are very hardworking, dedicated, smart, & brilliant. They are all showing various ways of great work and representation at Walnut Grove. Within the classroom each of them have been recognized for their work ethic and skill levels. Not only did they enjoy the merrymaking of it all, it's a great way to accomplish new goals that help pursue new careers and inspire more students along the way.