AWANA Awards Night

What a great celebration we had on Wednesday night! The Cove was packed with parents, grandparents and siblings eager to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our clubbers from this year. They’ve been so diligent memorizing their verses and working through their handbooks to get their patches, jewels and wings!

Our AWANA ministry would not be possible without the faithful service of our volunteer leaders. We’ve had an unbelievable team of adults and youths that poured into the clubbers every week, developing relationships with them while helping them work through their books and achieve their goals. This year’s Awana team was:

Adult Table Leaders: Susan Portrey, Kelley Swaine, Sandy Heim, Michelle Sedgwick, Rachelle Hildebrand, Darlene Shadden, Jenny Madsen, Jobie Taber

Youth Table Leaders: Cassie Portrey, Jordan Lass, , Shelby Garret, John Ager Jr., Reagan Roy, Brooke Wiley, Sydney Johnson, Natalie Heim, Gracie Thummel

Preschool Leaders: Abby Roy and Brooke Woodworth

Registration/Check In/Awards: Pam Provenzano, Wendy Thummel, Sheri Stoddard and Angella Richardson

We had 20 clubbers who received book awards this year. This means they completed at least one entire handbook (and each handbook required that they memorize anywhere from 25-75 verses!).

The clubbers that completed their first book (HangGlider) were: Nolan Cooper, Emma Clark, Katie Clark, Noah White, Mikaela Lee, Johanna White, Sabrina Frejek, Emma Pearcy, Sophia Moreira, Nathan Yoon, Jason Yoon and Lilly Hildebrand.

There were 5 clubbers that completed their second handbook (WingRunner). This means that they had to complete the first handbook before being able to move onto the second book. Receiving their second book award were: Katie Clark, Chevy Orton, Nathan Yoon, Caleb Kennedy and Sammy Ippolito. (Notice that Katie Clark and Nathan Yoon completed TWO handbooks this year – so awesome!!).

Then we had only two clubbers to complete their third handbook (SkyStormer). This is a big accomplishment because this means that they’ve already completed the first two books! Our two clubbers that received the Sparks Plaque were: Scotty Provenzano and Will Sedgwick.

Once the clubbers reach third grade, they move into a complete different set of books. The third grade cook – called the Ultimate Adventure – has over 75 verses in it! We had three clubbers to finish their Ultimate Adventure book and receive the Alpha Award: Aidan Swaine, Ellery Archer and Sal Tagliareni. Great job, you guys!!

Another thing that we recognize is outstanding attendance. We recognize that, between sports, school, activities, sickness, travel, etc. – it is an effort to make it to (or choose) Awana every week. We give a “runner up” attendance award (an Awana pin and pen) to those that have been coming to Awana since September and only missed ONE time. Our runner up attendance winners were: Avery Archer, Natalie Beeman, Jason Yoon, Mikaela Lee, Layla Lattarulo, Trevor Lima, Hailey Demarest, Charlie Portrey and Aidan Swaine.

We then gave out the Perfect Attendance awards. There were a few levels to this… those that just started coming in the spring session, those that have come in winter and spring and those that have come ALL year. Our spring session “perfects” received a Hershey’s chocolate bar and they were: Josiah Ragsdale and Leah Ragsdale. Our winter and spring session perfects (who received a GIANT chocolate bar) were: Maryn Rogers, Noah Rogers, Nolan Cooper, Theo Tagliareni and Sal Tagliareni. And our perfect attenders from September through May (who received a trophy and a giant chocolate bar!) were: Caleb Kennedy, Scotty Provenzano, Will Sedgwick, Nora Speziale and Charlie Portrey.

Game time is a huge part of Awana every week – mainly because it is probably the clubbers’ favorite part! Mr. John (Ager) leads games, with Ryan Williams, and they do a fantastic job! John and Ryan selected one clubber from each grade to receive the Sportsmanship Award. They were: Nolan Cooper, Nora Speziale, Will Sedgwick and Ellery Archer.

We ended the night with our highlights video from the year. Check it out here…