The senior awards assembly will take place on June 1 at 6:00pm in the school’s auditorium according to guidance counselor Mark Szot. Szot has been in charge of this assembly for 18 years, “it is a great way to recognize the achievements of the senior class,” says Szot. 

     The assembly will last approximately two hours, says Szott, “my first year doing this in 2004 [the assembly] was in the morning and it used to be a lot longer.” It used to be three to four hours instead of the current two due to the school combining everything together into one awards assembly, explains Szott. “Now the separate departments do their own awards assemblies which cut down the time quite a bit,” adds Szot. 

     In the past, Szott explains, it used to be mandatory for every senior to show up to the senior awards assembly. Now it is only an invitation to those receiving an award, “every single student we invite will be going up for something, for some of them being multiple things that they receive,” says Szott. 

     The pledge opens up the event before Szott starts the program, “then we have the Harmonics come on stage and do The Star Spangled Banner for us,” says Szott. Towards the end of the program the Harmonics are invited back on the stage to lead the audience in a song on the way out of the auditorium, he adds. 

     Seniors are recognized with regional awards and scholarships, school department awards, and school awards, says Szot, “they are based on academic excellence and achievement.” There are many platform guests that come on stage to present the awards and scholarships to the seniors, describes Szott, “they range from business owners to politicians.” 

     There will be a lot of scholarships presented to the senior class which have been advertised all year on Naviance, says Szott, “each year there are about 150 scholarships given.” Szott continues, these scholarships are less competitive because they are only open to either North Harford seniors or seniors in certain counties. “It is not as competitive as some of the national scholarships that are out there where you will be competing with everyone in the country for scholarship money,” says Szott. 

     “It is important to show students that their hard work is noticed and prepares them for the future and it also highlights students that overcame a lot of adversity to have success in school as well,” adds Szott. Unlike the limiting of members for the graduation ceremony, parents, siblings, and grandparents are all invited. “Typically we do an all call about a week before [the assembly] to all of the families of the students who will be recognized,” mentions Szott.