A number of Central School students got to shake hands with Kewanee School Board members Monday evening, as the board honored them for their athletic accomplishments.
Honored were:
— Central’s seventh- and eighth-grade football teams and their coaches. Both teams won their conference titles.
— The school’s seventh-grade basketball team, which finished their season with a 17-4 record, and the eighth-grade team, which ended at 18-1.
— Annie Costenson was recognized for being Central’s winner of the Illinois Elementary Athletic Association’s Attitude Award. She maintained a 4.0 average while participating in sports.
— The board also recognized Aaliyah Swearingen, a Kewanee High School student who was the first female wrestler in school history to advance to the state finals in wrestling.
The students were honored in front of a large crowd of parents and supporters in Petersen Auditorium at Kewanee High School, where the board was meeting.
As is the board’s custom when honoring students for their accomplishments, they invited the students to come on stage to shake hands with Supt. Rebecca Baney and the board members
Tim Atwell, who is retiring this year as Kewanee High School’s athletic director, was recognized by the board for being named the Illinois Athletic Directors Association’s Athletic Director of the Year in Classes 1A and 2A.
The award, presented at the association’s state conference awards dinner Sunday, recognizes administrators who “demonstrate outstanding commitment to student-athletes, coaches and educational-based athletic programs,” according to a news release from the school district.
“Under his leadership, Kewanee athletics have continued to focus on student participation, program development and the values of teamwork, character and perseverance,” Supt. Rebecca Baney wrote in a news release announcing the award.
Also Monday, Baney announced that the district is awaiting final certification of its Certified Nurse Assistant Career Pathway program, which is scheduled to start in the coming school year.
And under personnel actions, the board accepted the resignation of Belle Alexander School principal Casie Douglas.
