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Students honored for character

Fourteen students are due to be honored today by the Minot Community Character Counts Coalition.

The 2017 Youth and Community Character Awards Banquet honors area youth who display outstanding character, and the banquet features guest stars Miss North Dakota Macy Christianson and entertainer Shelby Hustaon.

Character Counts is a national program dedicated to promoting the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship in schools. The Character Counts banquet recognizes outstanding youth who have displayed the six pillars in their schools and communities. Teachers and staff nominated qualified students who were later examined by the Character Counts Coalition.

“The students are outstanding,” says Jim Vitko, education manager of Minot Public Schools. “It is amazing how well they carry themselves and I hope they continue to reach out and continue displaying character.”

The 14 students honored were Lincoln Ballew (Magic City Campus), Hanna Candrian (Bishop Ryan Catholic School), Colton Cook (Magic City Campus), Reggan Dolbeare (Central Campus), Emma Garber (Bishop Ryan Catholic School), Makenzie Haffner (Our Redeemer’s Christian School), Averie Hoffarth (Magic City Campus), Je-Mario Jones (Central Campus), Regan Lynn McNally (Central Campus), Abby Nelson (Central Campus), Ashley Nelson (Erik Ramstad Middle School), Jacob Scheresky (Our Redeemer’s Christian School), Elijah Stewart (Bishop Ryan Catholic School), and Karlee Zablotney (Our Redeemer’s Christian School).

“This award means a lot to me,” said Lincoln Ballew. “It validated how hard I worked for years to become the person I am today.

“I feel extremely honored to have been nominated for the Character Counts Award,” she continued. “It’s really special to me because one of my teachers saw that I displayed good character and decided to nominate me. It’s amazing to think that my teachers noticed so much of my personality and felt like I was a good candidate for the award.”

Makenzie Haffner also feels honored to have been nominated out of the many other eligible students. “I think it is an honor to be nominated because someone has to notice something different in you. It’s one of my goals is to be a good… kind of different in the world. So, to be given this award lets me know that I’m doing something right,” Haffner said.

Students said that they will strive to continue developing their characters. Karlee Zablotoney stated, “I’m going to try and make my character better to shine for Jesus. Jesus is represented in everything I do, so I need to have a character that represents him. My character will be my reputation for the rest of my life, so its a good idea to start now.”

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