State awards highlight Cosgriff honors ceremony

Intermountain Catholic

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J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School kindergartners perform ?When Jesus Walked? to open the year-end awards ceremony.

SALT LAKE CITY — From science to language arts, J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School students excelled at the state level this year. Their achievements were highlighted at the school’s Honor and Awards Assembly on May 25.

One example of the students’ diversity is that of the 43 junior high school mock trial teams in the state quarter-finals. The Cosgriff team went undefeated through the quarter finals and therefore qualified for the semi-finals. "However, because the semi-final competition was held at the same time as the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair, and the majority of the mock trial team members had been chosen to compete in the science fair, the team chose to forfeit their place in the semi-finals so they could represent Cosgriff and compete in the Science and Engineering Fair," said Jim Larson, the middle school math and science teacher.

Nine Cosgriff students took home awards from the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair, including Miranda Rougelot, who now is competing to go onto the national level.

The winner of the annual League of Cities and Towns Essay Contest is a Cosgriff student. The contest is open to all fourth- and seventh-graders; they write on the topic "Why I Like My Neighborhood." Before presenting the award, Salt Lake City Councilman J.T. Martin said this year’s winning essay "is exactly what living in a community is all about."

He then read the winning entry and presented the award to Sarah Frederick. The seventh-grader received several other recognitions, including the Monsignor Vaughan Award, which is given to a Cosgriff student who demonstrates "exemplary behavior in the areas of scholarship, leadership, sportsmanship and cooperation."

Fourth-grader Brighton Forsgren was recognized for winning the Utah State Poetry Society Contest; her original poem "Divorced Parents" was published in the organization’s 2011 Junior Creative Poetry Anthology.

For the second year in a row, a Cosgriff student won the Igniting Creative Energy Contest, which is open to students in grades kindergarten through 12 in the United States and Canada. The winner was third-grader Hannah Gose, who was interviewed on Channel 2 the day after the awards ceremony.

"These outstanding awards just don’t happen," said Principal Betsy Hunt. "Our students surely have a lot of initiative, they are very intelligent and driven, but without a very solid background and foundation in the subject areas, some of these awards may not be possible."

Also at the event, eighth-grade teacher Kathy May and third-grade teacher Susan Sause were recognized as they enter retirement. In addition, the school’s office manager, Kim Marron, was presented with flowers and well-wishes as she prepared for a kidney transplant.