Every year, Aliso’s Associated Student Body–along with its staff–collaborate in order to make the Esprit De Wolverine awards ceremony a special event for students and teachers alike.
This year, the award ceremony took place on April 28 at the main Gym after school and roughly 350 students all gathered to be presented their award.
Esprit De Wolverine in French translates to the “Spirit of the Wolverine”, and every year, awards are given to students who show excellence in their academics and their character in class. They essentially effectively embody the spirit of an excelling student.
Students are nominated by their teachers, but no criteria is given to teachers, meaning that each student was nominated for very different reasons depending on how they improved the class environment. No teacher is required to nominate students either; however, a majority of the teachers participate because of their desire to highlight good students, and they put much thought into their nominations.
Ms. Roche, a Chemistry teacher at Aliso, said: “[Nominating students is] probably one of the hardest things I have to do… I don’t usually take just the top student [grade wise,] but I’m going to look at those top ten in each class, and I’m going to say,… ‘Who do I know? …I know the names, but can I put a face with that name?’ And that’s the students who come in for Wolverine Plus, participate and ask me questions.”
Nominations to students are anonymous, so in most cases, students don’t know which teacher nominated them until the actual event–making it more touching when the students finally realize from whom it came.
Ms. Ross, the Activities Commissioner for ASB who does a majority of the organizing, said: “I could set up the best ceremony, but I think the best part of it is that the teachers are so invested in being a part of it… The majority of them go, which just speaks to the connection that they have to what they do, and that they clearly love what they do.”
During the ceremony, students are handed their certificates of recognition directly from their teachers before shaking hands with the Dr. Mahindrakar or the area’s trustee, Krista Castellanos, to receive a medal.
Certain students receive multiple certificates and medals from multiple nominations, which further highlights their incredible character.
In previous years, the ceremony was slightly different in its way of nominating. Last year was the first year that Aliso had allowed teachers to nominate one student per period they teach, and those nominees can all be from the same period if the teacher wishes. Prior to that, the number of nominees was limited to a certain number.
However, since the school sought to represent more students, and to save teachers the struggle of choosing between many exceptional students, they were given more available spots.
Most of the high schools in the Capistrano Unified School District hold similar award ceremonies under different names. Dana Hills High School, for example, has the Dana Hills Annual Achievement awards to acknowledge and honor good students.
What makes Aliso’s especially special is that our staff and teachers take the extra time and effort to attend the event and support students. This has been ever since the ceremony’s beginning at the school’s founding under Principal Denise Danne.
The ceremony’s ultimate goal is to recognize hard working students that the school prides in having.
