After being informed that she was nominated for what is considered the highest award a student at JC can receive, senior Maggie Yankovich could hardly reach out to shake Principal Paul Barker’s hand out of shock.

The Black and Gold Award was begun by principal Paul Barker in 2003 as “a a way for students to put forward who they deem represent themselves and their class best,” Barker said.

“We have a valedictorian and a salutatorian to take center stage at graduation, and we have scholar-athlete awards, but none of them had any input from fellow students,” Barker said. Therefore, he created the Black and Gold Award to change this.

The award measures “well-rounded, all-around excellence, recognizing that many pieces go into ‘all-around,’” Barker said. In light of JC’s new motto, “compelling, considerate, and uncompromising,” the recipients of the award are expected to be “compelling in their accomplishments, considerate towards others, and uncompromising in commitment to excellence, both here and beyond school.”

Six students are nominated for the award by their classmates in May of their senior year—three boys and three girls. This year’s nominees for girls are Erin Hanratty, Rachael Green, and Maggie Yankovich. The boys nominated are Steve Harper, Harrison Gaeng, and Steve St. Clair.

“It felt quite surreal to be nominated,” said Yankovich. ”I wasn’t really expecting it.” Yankovich, who only came to JC for her junior and senior years, added “When I found out that the others were Rachael and Erin, just being nominated with them makes it special. I’m in good company and I will not mind losing to either one of them.”

“I was really flattered to be nominated,” Green said. “It’s not the same thing as a sports or honors award; it’s a character award, and you can’t get an award better than that.”

After they have been notified of their nominations, the nominees fill in a form that asks for their biographical information, including family situation, academic history (including GPA, courses, and class rank), as well as extracurricular activities, community service, and intended college. After the nominees have filled out the forms, Barker makes a file and sends it out to all faculty members, who will read the biography and vote for one boy and one girl to win the award.

The ballot is considered top secret, and after all faculty have placed their votes in the ballot box, Barker counts the votes. Only three people know the winners before the official announcement—Executive Assistant to the Principal Dawn Teel, campus minister Patti Murphy-Dohn, and Barker.

The winners of the Black and Gold Award will be announced at the senior project showcase on June 4. “It gives people an additional reason to be there,” Barker said.

According to Barker, all nominees are asked to be “prepared to say some remarks” should they win the award.

“I’m working on my speech currently,” Yankovich said. “I’m nervous about that if I were to win, it would be nerve-wracking to try and express it [because] it’s such a great honor.”

The Black and Gold Award, in the words of Barker, is distinction based on “many people’s gut feeling on who represents what we’re about at JC.”

“I already feel like a winner just for having been nominated,” Green said. “There’s no one I can thank other than my classmates, my parents, and God. I can’t pat myself on the back; I have other people to thank.”

Charlotte Hagerman can be reached for comment at [email protected].