Over the years, the Natrona County School District holds an academic awards banquet to honor the top ten percent of senior class students from each high school. This banquet celebrates scholarly excellence, recognizing the academic achievements of students whose dedication and perseverance have given them the opportunity to be individually recognized.  

The awards banquet presents the students past, present, and future plans, showcasing their favorite memory, what activities or events they’re currently involved in, and their hopes and goals for their upcoming years. 

The celebration begins as a dinner gathering, leading into introductions and opening remarks by the school district superintendent. Usually, a guest speaker is brought in, followed by educator awards before recognition of students. The educator awards are decided from whichever educator’s name was most mentioned in the form by students. This is then followed by student awards which are announced by the high school principals of each school.

Kelly Walsh’s class of 2025 has about 500 students therefore the banquet committee invited around fifty students to the celebration. Some students are tied with exact GPAs, making them both eligible for top ten percent.

Haylie Williams has been a prominent student taking AP, honors, and advanced classes. This put Williams in a strong spot at the start of senior year. Williams also took part in creating an app with a fellow classmate to help high school graduates pick a field of study. This app won a statewide Congressional App challenge. 

“I was really happy to be invited to the banquet. It felt like a reward to all of my accomplishments during the past four years,” said Williams. 

When the students are invited to attend, they receive a form to complete that requires them to name three significant educators from their time in the school district. One from elementary, one from middle school, and one from high school.

“I chose Mrs. Whitely as my educator. She has helped me these past four years and always pushed me to achieve great things inside and outside of academics,” said Williams, “She also helped me make decisions for my future.”

Another student who was honored is Thomas Valdez, despite his shock of being invited, he was honored to have made it with all of the work he put in throughout his high school career. 

Valdez said “I am going to UW for finance and earned a few scholarships to help support me through that.” 

Valdez’s family was in attendance to celebrate this accomplishment as well as his educator Brandon Schafer who was once a teacher and a golf coach to him. 

The award banquet began in 1998, and each year there has been a group of volunteers that helps organize it. Last year, according to the Academic Awards Banquet program, Amy Allaire was one of those volunteers. Now she gets to see her daughter be recognized this year. 

Kendal Allaire is a multisport athlete for Kelly Walsh who will be continuing her love for volleyball at Regis University in Colorado. Allaire excelled in both athletics and academics and is exhilarated to start her journey at Regis.

Students and staff at Kelly Walsh high school attended the 2025 Academic Awards Banquet on April 26th.