2022 Triple 'A' Award Winners

Owatonna High School                                                               

Grade-point average: 4.088

Activities: Band, choir, cross country, basketball, track and field.

Connor is a National Merit Semi-Finalist at Owatonna High School. A teacher calls him an “ideal role model for academic excellence,” who is very willing to help others. Connor qualified for Academic All-State in both cross country and track and field last year. He’s also president of the Owatonna DECA chapter. He is captain of the cross-country team and says his favorite memory is winning back-to-back Big Nine Championships. He also leads the track and field team and plays basketball. Connor has earned a dozen varsity letters and four All-Conference honors. Connor is involved in the pep and jazz band and earned a Superior Rating for a solo ensemble in choir. He says, “music has been a big part” of his life and career in high school, and he appreciates its “ability to change lives.” 

Quote: “Participating in the arts at OHS and performing in the top ensembles has taught me life lessons such as leadership and accountability, and I have created friendships that will last a lifetime.”

College plans: To study finance.

Willmar Senior High School                                                                  

Grade-point average: 4.073

Activities: Band, choir, visual arts, tennis, volleyball, hockey, golf.

Kessa has been on the high honor roll every term at Willmar Senior High School. She plays the saxophone for the jazz and pep band. And in concert band, plays the “very difficult” bassoon. She admits she’s a competitive person when it comes to sports. This school year, she was captain of the tennis team, and played No.1 singles—even though she’s only been playing the sport for three years. She’s also captain of the hockey team. She says she’ll never forget competing in the Girls Hockey State Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. Kessa is captain of the golf team, too, helping them win the conference championship meet and was voted Most Valuable Player. Kessa has accepted a spot on the Winona State University Women’s Golf Team.  Her coach says Kessa is a “true team player,” with “an impressive kindness about her that lifts the people around her up.”

Quote: “These activities have taught me that attitude and effort are the two things that I can control. If I have a positive attitude and give one-hundred-and-ten percent effort, then I know I am doing everything I can to be my very best student, athlete, and musician.”

College plans: To study biology in a pre-medicine program at Winona State University and play on the Warriors’ women’s golf team.

Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial High School                                                        

Grade-point average: 4.0

Activities: Band, choir, speech, robotics, visual arts, cross country, Alpine skiing, basketball, track and field.

Grace wants to pursue a career in international law. So, she took several classes online at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial High School, just so she could learn two foreign languages at the same time.  Grace played the flute in many honor bands including the Southern Minnesota Band Directors Association Honor Band. She’s been offered a music scholarship at Saint Olaf. Grace says she appreciates public speaking as an art form—she’s been captain of the speech team for two years. And she’s used that skill to advocate for pollinators and climate justice. Her coach says Grace is an “outstanding distance runner and team captain, who qualified for state twice in cross country and three times in track and field. She’s also been named the Minnesota State Female High School Heisman winner and the League’s ExCEL award State Winner.

Quote: “Making the connection between hard work and success is one of the most important lessons I have learned through my involvement in all three areas.”

College plans: To study Chinese and seek a pre-law degree at St. Olaf College, and to participate in cross country and track, and band.

Battle Lake High School                                                                         

Grade-point average: 3.946

Band, choir, One Act Play, speech, cross country, basketball, track and field.

Isaac went into high school “with the mentality of giving everything a try.” He became a top science student at Battle Lake High School and ranks third in his entire class. Besides choir and jazz band, Isaac says he has been involved in every musical possible. He’s in F-F-A (Future Farmers of America) and says he has been a “successful” lawyer for Mock Trial. Isaac is captain of the speech team. He’s also competed at the national leadership conference for Business Professionals of America, and even built a computer for a WIN project.

Isaac is passionate about running—he’s been Captain of the cross country team for the past two years—and captain of the track team last year. His teacher says Isaac has “worked really hard to make himself a very strong cross country and spring track runner.”

Quote: “I learned to be persistent and keep trying and giving my all, even at things I’m not the best at, through my many years of playing basketball, even when I was one of the less skilled players on the team.”

 

College plans: To pursue a computer engineering and computer science degree.