In upcoming weeks, the South Colonie Central School District graduation committee will chose from several nominees to become part of the Colonie Central High School Hall of Fame.
The deadline for submitting nominations of someone you feel would be a good candidate to be inducted into the hall of fame is fast approaching at Friday, May 15. The Hall of Fame began in 1994 and allows Colonie Central High School graduates to be honored at the commencement ceremony each year.
Inductees are chosen based on their personal and professional accomplishments and, according to a committee member, have to have gone above and beyond to be honored.
You need to show the committee that you have taken your education and have applied it to bigger and better things that you have done, said Committee Member and Vice President of the South Colonie Board of Education Brian Casey. `Some things need to jump out about these applications in order for the person to be selected.`
Casey said there are other qualifications a person must meet before being inducted into the hall of fame, including that they must have graduated from Colonie Central High School.
If someone is nominated to the hall of fame and not inducted, their nomination is saved and kept in a pool for the following year’s nominations.
Last year, Lorenzo Hodges was one of the new inductees to the hall of fame and he said that he was honored to be chosen for the work he has done for people in other countries.
Over the past few years, Hodges has helped coordinate fundraisers and food drives that have brought together millions of dollars in medicine and supplies for the people of Africa.
`It felt great because it recognized that a lot of the work I was doing out of the box and kind of unusual,` he said.
Hodges said the experience also was beneficial for him because he was able to catch up with old classmates.
`I thought it was great,` he said. `It also gave me a chance to connect with a lot of friends of mine that I haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years.`
Hodges was one of three inductees who were chosen by the committee last year. But there are some years where it is possible that no inductee be chosen.
`It depends on the nominations. You can have one, or, I remember a few years back there were four or five,` said Casey. Casey said he only knows of one year where there were no hall of fame inductees.
This year, Casey predicts there will be at least one, maybe two, inductees. Casey also said the committee is discussing whether the inductees will be given a two-to-three minute slot to speak about their work.
You can nominate yourself for the hall of fame. If you would like to nominate yourself, or someone you know, contact the main office at Colonie Central High School at 459-1220 by May 15.
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