Last night, Tuesday, April 16, NC praised high-achieving students at the annual Honor’s Ceremony. Each year, NC recognizes students for excellence in classes. Various seniors receive specific accolades such as the American Legion Scholarship or Principal Matthew Moody’s Principal’s Awards to commend their outstanding work.
One of the esteemed awards of the night entailed the Acworth Mayor’s Cup. The Warrior selected to win the award displays extensive community involvement and academic achievement, which demonstrates their character as a well-rounded student. Last night, NC celebrated senior class president Ryan Lacey as the recipient of this award due to her exceptional triumphs in and outside of NC.
“I have always liked being involved in school. I’ve been a part of student government and been class president since my sophomore year and through that, I felt like I got to take a more active role this year. I enjoyed introducing new ideas and increasing school spirit,” Lacey said.
Culminating numerous feats throughout her high school years, Lacey has stood as an example of distinction. Primarily in her academic life, she continues to engage in areas to increase her knowledge. With a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.6 and over ten Advanced Placement (AP) classes, Lacey has soared her wings of intelligence over every area of the school. She also participates in clubs such as Model United Nations (MUN), Speech and Debate, Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) and more, which have established her as a knowledgeable and confident scholar.
“Around school, I’m very involved in academic competitions and I just really enjoy competing… I really think it’s nice to be able to introduce other people to clubs like [MUN and DECA] because they’re really helpful in increasing people’s confidence and their ability to function well [in school],” Lacey said.
However, the class president’s achievements do not remain inside the school walls. Lacey (14) also serves as a defensive player for NC’s varsity girl’s soccer team. Students and teachers alike saw her dedication to the Lady Warriors at the ceremony as she left immediately after a game against the Mountain View Bears to receive her award. Playing all four years of her high school career, Lacey displays an incredible balance between the demands of her school and athletic involvement.
In addition to her roles as president, student and soccer player, Lacey also showed entrepreneurial accomplishment. During the COVID quarantines, Lacey created her own business of clothing to spark joy in the world. The brand, Lovey Crew, featured shirts with a Quick-Response (QR) code that viewers could scan. The code led the scanner to a website with pictures of happy animals in an attempt to spark smiles in the audience. Through her business, Lacey shipped overseas to countries such as Australia, which allowed the positivity to spread in COVID-19’s depressing times.
“My numbers for my sales were never really where I wanted them to be, it wasn’t like this booming success. But I will say being able to reach people in different parts of the world and know that my brand had an impact—because it was positivity based—was really helpful, even if my numbers weren’t always the most impressive,” Lacey said.
Overall, Lacey remains a perfect example of the distinction represented by the Acworth Mayor’s Cup. From her achievements at school to the positive work in her personal life, she has shown various students what it means to inspire excellence. Lacey plans to take an international gap year—funded by the Morehead-Cain scholarship—before pursuing studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she currently plans to major in sociology and business. The Chant would like to congratulate Lacey for her award and wish her the best in all of her future feats.
