On December 21, at the holiday assembly, 2017 Pottsville Area High School graduate, Maddie Kohutka received the Cedar Crest College Freshman Valedictory Award. She earned this award for her outstanding achievements in academics at Cedar Crest College. Maddie is currently a sophomore majoring in mathematics and secondary education.

Maddie did not expect to win such a prestigious award. “Getting a 4.0 my first semester of college was kind of a surprise because I didn’t go into college thinking that I would get a 4.0 or I was trying to get a 4.0; it just kind of happened. Then for my second semester, I guess the bar was kind of set for myself and I wanted to do the same thing.”

Maddie put a lot of time and effort into her school work. Her roommate also played a large role in her achievement. “I achieved this all through my grade point average; so just a lot of studying and making sure my homework was done on time. My roommate is very studious and she was one of the other people that won the award; there were three people. She is always in the room studying and doing her work, and when I see her doing it, I kind of want to do the same thing.”

Lori Gallagher, a 2008 graduate of Cedar Crest College and director of Alumnae Affairs presented Maddie with the award at the assembly. “This award is presented every year by the Cedar Crest College Alumnae Association to the student with the highest GPA at the end of her freshman year.  This year, it was awarded to three students, including Maddie from Pottsville Area High School. The mission of the Alumnae Association, which is an organization separate from the College, is to engage students, connect them with alumnae, and support their success at Cedar Crest. One way in which they accomplish this is through this Freshman Valedictory Award, which serves to provide financial support to the student to help with their education and provide funding for the student’s high school to buy the books or other necessary resources for the library.  Because Maddie had the highest GPA of her class at Cedar Crest, she received this award and Pottsville Area High School will be receiving new books for the library. This will allow others to see Cedar Crest College and also understand the impact that a Pottsville Area education has on its students,” Gallagher said.

Mrs. Lillian Hobbs, school librarian, stated, “We received 200 dollars from the Cedar Crest Alumnae Association in recognition of Maddie being the valedictorian of her freshman class. The grant will be used to buy library materials. I’m using the money to support career research. The Pennsylvania Department of Education established regulations for students to explore, prepare, and demonstrate readiness for postsecondary education or training. The Cedar Crest Alumnae Association donation will be used to purchase books which will help students identify and explore careers. For example, English 9 Vo-tech students are required to research and compose a five-paragraph essay on the career they have chosen to study. The books purchased will be used for this and other career exploration projects.”

“Some people have a hard time deciding what they want to do in life. If you have a chance to research options in books, you have a good chance of finding something you’re good at and would be comfortable doing. Having more resources for this is great,” sophomore Maddie Condon said.

Freshman Lydia Cholko said, “I use SIRS Discoverer and other databases. The databases have good and reliable information because it has reliable authors and other trustful sources. I use this because I want to be a fitness instructor. ”