Andy Garr is named this year's Outstanding Senior

Each year, one senior is selected to be awarded the title as an “Outstanding Senior”. This is a long standing tradition here at AHS. The Outstanding Senior award is given out as the final award presented on Awards Night.

Principal Paul Milcetich explains the selection process,”The selection process actually begins in January when a Senior List is sent to the staff, and staff are asked to nominate a number of Seniors based upon character, leadership, service, academics, and school participation. All students who receive at least two nominations are then added to the list to be sent back out to staff to then be ranked in those same 5 categories. The students with the top 12 scores on this ranking system then become our Outstanding Greenmen for that class and are honored at the annual banquet in April. At the April Staff Meeting, we ask our staff to then nominate from our top 12 Seniors from the rankings to be nominated for a staff vote for Outstanding Senior based upon the same 5 criteria. Then the 4 or 5 student finalists are voted on by the entire staff as who would best represent our school and their graduating class as the Outstanding Senior.”

This year the recipient is Andy Garr. He was selected for many reasons including his participation in wrestling, AP classes, and volunteers.

Garr explains how he decided wrestling was the sport for him: “I did almost every sport growing up, but I stuck to wrestling because my success was completely in my hands… [it] is solely based off my ability to work hard and perform.”

Next year, he will be attending Columbia University. Garr had looked at multiple colleges for wrestling and decided Columbia was the place for him to grow. A major factor was the location.

He explained this decision. “The opportunity to do the sport I love, at a great academic institution, and surround myself with the opportunities in the most lively city in the world is a pretty hard one to pass up!”

Garr attributes his success to those he surrounds himself with. He acknowledged that he does well in the classroom and in the gym, but the fact he surrounds himself with smart students, is what he believes has made him who he is.

When asked about the award, he said, “I put no emotional stock in it. What I am proud of - however - is what the award represents: A person who is constantly trying to improve himself in all areas. The fact that I was picked out of a pool of so many other well-deserving students and overall people is what I am most proud of. ”