Board of School Trustees honors six at Feb. 13 meeting
By Kenzie Gamlin | HCCSC Communications Intern
During the most recent school board meeting on Feb. 13, members of Huntington County Community School Corporation were invited to be recognized for displaying HCCSC‘s core value of High Expectations, High Achievement and Accountability. The members were grouped by Executive Secretary Cindy Gray and thanked and congratulated by Superintendent John Trout. Director of Elementary Education Jay Peters then gave a brief summary of their achievements.
After being verbally recognized, Director of Secondary Education Chuck Brimbury and School Board Trustee Kari Heim gave the individuals an official certificate in honor of their core value and took a picture with the group to remember the moment.
Recognized during the board meeting were brothers Mason and Brenton Eidson, Huntington North High School football players Nate Elliott, Joshua Hill and Andrew Szelis and Huntington North girls basketball player Taylor Double. Unfortunately, Elliott and Hill were unable to attend, but Szelis proudly represented the football team for them. All of these individuals will receive a congratulatory letter and a picture of the moment to remember for a lifetime.
The Eidson brothers entered into the school district in April of 2021 with no prior schooling. At a third- and fourth-grade age, parents of the two were looking for assistance to find the best opportunities for the children to grow in their reading, socio-emotional skills and basic exposure to a school environment.
The Eidson parents sat in with teachers and staff at Flint Springs Elementary School to find the best next steps for the students. They decided attending school for a few hours daily would work well for the children for the remainder of the year. After their short trial period, the two started attending school full time as the 2021–22 school year started.
The boys excelled throughout the next year and a half of schooling leading them up to today. The two can read and function in the classroom environment with little guidance. The work from Flint Springs staff, the Eidson family and of course Mason and Brenton has paid off incredibly.
Elliot, Hill and Szelis have all participated in football for many years. Working incredibly hard, they not only have played exceptionally well but they have also kept exceptional grades throughout the 2022–23 season.
The three players have earned the distinction of Academic All-State Region 3 from the Indiana Football Coaches Association. These three met the requirements of playing in at least 70% of the season games, retaining a GPA of 3.40 and receiving a score of 1110 on the SAT or 24 on the ACT. These three players were nominated by Huntington North football head coach Robert Prescott.
Recently, Double was recognized as part of the HNHS 1,000 point club. She is only the fourth Lady Viking to have achieved this status. Double plans to continue her basketball career and education at Marian University in Indianapolis studying exercise science.
Double has played basketball from an elementary age, shocking peers and coaches at her skill from such a young age. Many believed she could go very far with her basketball career with her evident talent and Double has done just that.