The Excellence In Education event is a long-standing tradition at the community foundation where we recognize and honor the area’s top high school students who are graduating at the top of their classes. Each honored student is asked to select an educator who has had a significant impact on the student’s academic achievements and accomplishments. The educator may be any teacher from the student’s educational experiences, all the way from kindergarten to the present.
At the event, we recognize each student and educator, and the student is presented with a special medallion and certificate. Every year, our event is sponsored by the Alyce R. Erickson Fund. Vin Erickson was one of the founders of the foundation and served as the first president of our board of trustees. He and his wife, Alyce, cherished education and exemplified excellence in all that they did – they’d be the first to applaud the achievements and impacts of our students and educators.
As we couldn’t hold our event this year, we created a video to honor the students and educators instead:
View the video honoring the students and their educator
We’re proud of all of our community’s students and educators and are happy to honor the following this year:
Grand Haven High School
| Student | Educator |
| Kathryn Ackerman | Nicole Tiefenbac |
| Juliette Beals | Taylor Schriber |
| Hannah Brackenbury | Derek Warner |
| Natalie Bremmer | Elizabeth Gervais |
| Gregory Brown | Abby Williams |
| Cole Buller | Melissa Meyers |
| Tualatai Chamberlain | Taylor Schriber |
| Alonna Clark | Gary Knights |
| Claire Cowman | Rachel Twa |
| Kate Criswell-North | Angel Dean |
| Natalie Currie | Joyce Pollard |
| Tatum Davis | Mark Robertson |
| Matthew Dickinson | Jason Klinger |
| Grace Doyon | Bob Monetza |
| Gracie Endres | Chelsea Bender |
| George Fullerton | |
| Jasmine Gard | Daniel Newton |
| Jalen Greene | Kathleen Kowalczyk-Fulmer |
| John Hager | Iain Novoselich |
| Kiya Hammond | Shelly Hammond |
| Chloe Kamminga | Alex Harsay |
| Samantha Kasbohm | Holly Michelli |
| Sarah Knoll | Cindy Baker |
| Samantha Korecki | Juli Dick |
| Luke LaMere | Luke Anderson |
| Tahlia Lehmann | Brian Williams |
| Olivia Perrier | Jodi Heard |
| Lilja Plumert | Iain Novoselich |
| Jenna Ray | Melissa Richardson |
| Skyler Ruiter | Kevin Howard |
| Jessica Skinner | John Mauro |
| Ashley Slater | Aaron Smaka |
| Olivia Striegle | Beth Ferris |
| Jack Timmer | Joe Nelson |
| Ryan Tongue | Greg Huizenga |
| Eden Traub | Annie Ratke |
| Catherine Weigle | Penney Johnson |
| Samuel Woiteshek | Sue Leary |
| Evan Yu | Mark Londot |
| Megan Zelenka | Irene Sipe |
Spring Lake High School
| Student | Educator |
| Louis Addish | |
| Julia Bajt | Sarah Peterson |
| Liam Beck | Joseph Sinn |
| Erin Burke | Susan Strobel |
| Thomas Callen | Karl Sineath |
| Sophia Castagna | Rondalyn Marron |
| Margaret Cooper | Aaron Andres |
| Zoe Czadzeck | |
| Lauren DeRose | Susan Sova |
| Clayton Glasgow | Mike Truszkowski |
| Rose Henke | Kelli Heavilin |
| Lauren Hewitt | Lisa Schanhals |
| Rebecca Koratich | Lisa Schanhals |
| Jack Lauinger | |
| Kevin Losee | Lisa Schanhals |
| Mia McDermott | Joesph Sin |
| Lydia Miller | Karl Sineath |
| Muskaan Multani | Karl Sineath |
| Hannah Powers | Lisa Schanhals |
| Alexandra Reed | Lisa Schanhals |
| Troy Sievertsen | Lisa Schanhals |
| Charlotte Turner | Laurie Draeger |
| Sophie Turner | Ben Armey |
| Trace Van Dyke | Karl Sineath |
| Elise Zander | Karl Sineath |
Congratulations to all the students and educators!