College Board of National Recognition bestows honors for strong academic performance
BY JIM BEERS
CHESTER – Two Chester High School seniors, Garret Hopkins and Rylie McDonough, have been recognized by the Collage Board National Recognition Program for their excellent academic accomplishments throughout their high school careers to date.
Chester High School’s Garret Hopkins and Rylie McDonough have been honored with 2023 National Rural and Small-Town Awards (NRSTA). The awards are presented by the College Board National Recognition Program and showcase Hopkin’s and McDonough’s hard work and strong academic performances. Both are shown here with their NRSTA Certificates. Jim Beers Photo
The College Board of National Recognition Programs celebrate students nation-wide who demonstrate hard work and academic excellence and showcase their strong achievements. Students chosen for this prestigious award are chosen as being in one of four categories, including coming from rural areas of America, being African-American or Black, Native /indigenous, or and/or being Hispanic American or Latino.
Both Garret Hopkins and Rylie McDonough have been recognized with one of the “National Rural and Small Town Recognition Awards”. (NRSTA).
To be eligible for this award, applicants must meet three requirements:
Have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher.
Attend a school in a rural or small town; identify as African American/Black; Identify as Hispanic American/Latino; or identify as Indigenous /Native.
Have PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program, or earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP Exams in 9th or 10th grade.
Garret Hopkins is a Chester High School senior in the Class of 2024. He was born October 12, 2005 to Christi and Ryan Hopkins. He attended elementary school at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Chester and now attends Chester High School.
At CHS Garret has been involved in football and track as well as band all four years. He is a member of the Summit Chapter of the National Honor Society and is the President of that organization this year.
He is also the Class President of the Senior Class of 2024 and was the president last year as a junior. He is the Captain of the CHS Scholar Bowl Team and Vice President of the Spanish Club.
In his spare time, Garret enjoys boating, camping, and other outdoor activities with his family. He is also an avid reader. At CHS his favorite classes have been U.S. History and Civics. His PSAT scores place him in the 99th percentile with his score of 1320. He is currently in a 4-way tie for being the top student in the Class of 2024.
Garret has future hopes of going to college and wants to major in Political History and Civics. Eventually Garret wants to study Law and Political Science. He has already visited colleges in Washington, D.C. and Virginia.
Rylie McDonough was born May 25, 2006 to Chelsie Mueller and Matt McDonough. She attended Chester Community Grade School in Kindergarten through 8th Grade, and is now in her senior year at Chester High School.
At CHS Rylie is a member of the Summit Chapter of the National Honor Society and is very active in the CHS Band programs. While at CHS she has also been involved at various times in the Golf, Cross Country, and Track programs.
Her favorite classes at CHS to date have been U.S. History with Mr. Juenger and Anatomy with Mrs. Mueller.
Miss McDonough said, “I know there are other students in our class that also deserved this award. I am not really sure why I received it, but I am thankful for this honor.”
Upon graduation, Rylie hopes to continue her post-secondary education at Southern Illinois University most likely majoring in History and or Civics.
CHS Principal Jeremy Blechle said, “We’re thrilled to celebrate our students and recognize them for the great work they’ve been doing! We are proud of their strong academic performance in the classroom and on College Board assessments like the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and AP Exams.”
“There’s so much that makes our students unique. Receiving this honor reinforces this as an asset for their future.”
The College Board National Recognition Programs encourage all eligible students to apply for these awards on BigFuture (bigfuture.org) during their sophomore or junior years to be recognized for their academic achievements. Colleges and organizations using College Board’s Student Search Service can connect directly with those students receiving awards during their recruitment process.
Casey Hawkins, School Counselor at Chester High School said, “I am extremely proud of these two students and their achievements. This is quite a recognition for them, but also for Chester High School! Their futures are bright and I am excited to be a part of their post-secondary choices.”