Q: What is the difference between Senior Honors Night and the Senior Scholarship Breakfast?

A: The Senior Scholarship Breakfast is for the students who received scholarships to the schools they’re attending. We usually [honored them] during Senior Honors Night, but it became so big. Last year, there was over $12 million in scholarships that our students had been awarded [to the schools that they are attending]. This year, we are already beating that. It takes a lot of time, and I don’t feel that the kids get the right recognition. I feel like they really need to be recognized for it [because] it’s a pretty big deal.

Q: Whose idea was it to split the event into two separate functions?

A: Me, I guess. Parents can come to the ceremony in the morning [of the breakfast], and they can be there and see that too. [The scholarships] are also self-reported; the students are the ones telling us that they are getting these. The [event] in the evening, that’s more for department awards and bigger scholarships, like the Lilly [Endowment Community Scholarship] and the Wells [Scholars Program] and things like that.

Q: Will there still be two separate events like this next year?

A: We’ll see how this year goes.

Q: How did these events start and why do you think it’s important to recognize seniors with these events?

A: I don’t know when it started, probably at the inception of Lake Central. I think it’s important because kids work really hard. We have banquets and different ways to honor different groups at school for band, theatre, Publications and athletics, but academics is the whole reason we are here [at school]. I definitely think that students need to be recognized when they do some phenomenal things.