Chip Nimmons poses with ACE students Austin Beacham, Alejandra Cardenas, Rosa Dobbs, Austin Ludwig, Jeanette Parker and Attika Thanioka. (Contributed Photo by Dan Scott)

 

 

All six students who spoke during Fridays’

meeting earned the right to say “life’s tough.” None of them, however, are feeling sorry for themselves.

One of them lost her father after he was gunned down in a home invasion. Another is dealing with diabetes. A girl living in hardship in Indonesia left her home for the U.S. A student lost her father to a heart attack and then saw her home foreclosed on. Another was handed back and forth from parent to parent for much of his life until he became a foster child. One student still misses her father after he died in his sleep.

These are a few of the stories from the six area students who entered the Exchange Club’s ACE Awards. ACE stands for Accepting the Challenge for Excellence, and the student nominees are asked to explain how they overcame struggles to achieve.

Our program will be the A.C.E. Awards presentations.  Chip Nimmons is chairman of this program and will have presentations from 5 high school students.  

A.C.E. stands for Accepting the Challenge of Excellence. This program recognizes high school students who have made a dramatic change in their attitude and performance during their high school years. These changes have enabled the students to overcome adversities and prepare for graduation. Clubs may also submit their top A.C.E. Award winner to the district competition. Winners at the district level then have an opportunity to compete for the National A.C.E. Award.

This is a positive program with two key objectives. First, it helps encourage students to overcome their hardships and get back on track toward a high school diploma. Second, the award recognizes those students who are often overlooked for their accomplishments. This special recognition serves as a powerful example to all students that hard work and perseverance really do pay.