Credit to Madalyn Bridgewater & Chris Brandt

Senior Walter Hammond hugs a FHN staff member who nominated him for the 2024 Knights of the Round Table event.

Knights of Excellence organizes many events throughout the year, including the prestigious award ceremony Knights of the Round Table. KORT recognizes students who have worked hard in and out of the classroom. For this event, each building staff member gets the honor of choosing one student to receive an award.  

“Each adult can pick a kid for any reason,” KORT sponsor Lindsey Scheller said. “It can be academics, it could be athletics, even personality, or just someone that they notice going above and beyond to work hard or be kind and funny, generally there’s just no requirement.”

This award earns you a medal you may wear at graduation, a printed photo with the teacher who chose you and an invite to the KORT ceremony. The ceremony is something that many teachers look forward to throughout the year as it allows them to highlight an outstanding student in the room.

“I have nominated a student every year since the event started, I think this is my 27th or 28th time,” art teacher Denise Maples said. “KORT is unique, there’s nothing like it, there are different awards for sports or academics but KORT is just to recognize anyone doing awesome.” 

KORT is held after school in the large gym. Each student has an assigned seat whenever they arrive. At the beginning of the event, Scheller explains KORT to all parents and students attending. Then they begin the ceremony, reading a three to six-sentence paragraph written by the teacher to the student. 

“I was extremely impressed that my English teacher nominated me, especially because that is the class I struggle the most in,” senior Enzo St. Gemme said. “It just felt awesome to be recognized in that classroom.”

Students have no way to apply to the program as it is completely based on teacher recommendation. All in all, KORT allows students to feel appreciated and noticed by the staff at FHN. Not only do students get to hear a blurb about why they were chosen, but they also get a new stylish addition to their cap and gown.

“Every year is special and every year is different,” Scheller said. “I sponsor KORT, so I read all the nominations out loud. To be honest, that night out of all nights of the school year is the night where I think, ‘Wow.. this is why I am a teacher.’ It’s just so cool to listen to all the different reasons why students are chosen.”