FOLEY - The South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce hosted the 61st Annual Academic Banquet celebrating academic excellence on Thursday, May 10. The event was held at the Foley United Methodist Church, and this year honored the 53 top academic Foley High School seniors for the 2017-2018 school year. The event was attended by members of the Board of Education, employees and educators of Foley High School, members of the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, and of course, the family and friends of the seniors.

“We are very appreciative that we honor these students in this manner,” said Foley High School Principal Russ Moore. “I can’t tell you how fortunate those of us who work at the school are to see these students grow up; it’s amazing to see them go from 14-year-olds to what they are now, how much growth and progress they show.”

The Academic Banquet originally began as the Top Ten Banquet and has expanded over the years to include all the top graduating seniors.

“It’s great that we’ve expanded to include all these students who have pushed themselves to pursue this most difficult diploma available to them,” said Moore.

During the banquet, each student came before the audience to state the colleges they would either be attending or were applying for, which degrees they had decided to go for, and the biggest influences in their lives. Among the list were a lot of mentions of the parents as well as the teachers.

“I want to congratulate all of the students who are here, and thank you,” said Foley High School Teacher of the Year Col. Scherry Douglas. “It’s because of you that we get up and do what we do every day. I want to thank the administrators who are here, who continue to encourage us and support us. I’m just on cloud nine.”

Wendy Johnson, a counselor at Foley High School who moved to the position after working as a teacher in the school, presented the students with their award medals throughout the evening.

“Your children are wonderful,” Johnson said to the parents present. “They are bright and intelligent, and they’re going to do wonderful things … I have seen their faces since they were freshmen and they’ve grown into beautiful young adults, and I am very, very proud and I want to thank you parents for sharing your children with us. They teach us more than we teach them, so thank you and congratulations.”