Being excellent was the theme of the Academic Awards ceremony held at St. Joseph-Ogden High School last week.
Principal Gary Page said that while athletes get lots of accolades the students who excel as human beings and in academics deserve accolades as well.
Almost a third of the St. Joseph-Ogden student body was recognized for their work in the classroom.
Students honored have a GPA of 3.6 or higher, passed five classes during both semesters, must have all grades of a “C” or higher.
The school also has a former SJO student speak to the students.
The high school brings back one successful alumni each year to discuss their careers and how what they learned at SJO translated to their life post high school.
This year, the speaker was Dr. Nick Royal a doctor of adult medicine at Carle on Curtis.
Royal told those in attendance that having a purpose in life helped him reach his goals. He told students their purpose now was to excel at school.
Superintendent Brian Brooks said Royal, who grew up in Ogden, was a 2006 graduate of SJO.
“He was always a respectful young man who treated others how h wanted to be treated,” Brooks said.
After SJO Royal attended Parkland College before transferring to the University of Illinois. After graduation, he got a medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford. He then completed his residency of internal medicine at Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners from 2014 to 2017.
Royal talked to the students about how setting goals helped him achieve what he wanted.
Royal said he attended Parkland and set the goal of eventually attending medical school. He transferred to the U of I and kept working to eventually reach his goal.
Royal told students he was so determined he didn’t care what medical school he attended as long as he got to attend.
“There are 1,000 seats a year,” he said. “I just wanted one of them.”
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