Every year, the graduating class and their families and friends gather to celebrate their accomplishments at the Senior Awards Night. Some award winners are selected by staff members, such as The Lancer Award, while others are qualifying awards that highlight academic excellence, such as the Missouri Bright Flight award. Other honors are student recognized by their peers for 

Last year’s award winners were not able to attend the ceremony due to the COVID-19 lockdown and there were restrictions in place this year, however, a ceremony was held in person on April 21 with each student given two tickets for any family members or friends to attend.

Normally, all students and their guests would attend the ceremony together in the Theater, but due to health restrictions, guests watched the event live in the Main Gym while the students watched a live broadcast in the Back Gym. Administrators followed a scheduled script, telling the students when to line up to receive their award in the Main Gym. 

One of the most prestigious awards at the ceremony is the Lancer Award which includes a $1,000 scholarship awarded by the Lancer Parent Organization (LPO). To receive this award, the student must be nominated by a staff member and must represent the characteristics of scholarship, citizenship, leadership, character and community service. The winner is selected by a faculty vote.

Out of the seven nominees, Logan Coleman was selected as the 2021 winner. 

“It was definitely so humbling. I know every single nominee for that award very well, and I am not lying in the slightest when I tell you I could see every one of those individuals deserving the award. They’re all incredible people and even being nominated blew me away. Winning it reminded me that I am on the right path, doing the right things to help my Lancer community, and that’s exactly what the Lancer Award is for,” Coleman said. 

In addition to his mother being there for him at the ceremony, Coleman had some big support from one of his teachers, who also nominated him for the honor.

“My ROTC teacher Lt. Col. [Jim] Smith was also there, and that man couldn’t be more supportive of me and my endeavors. He’s the integral reason I built the character needed to receive that Lancer Award,” Coleman said. 

Included among numerous awards, each department selects a student who meets an impressive variety of criteria and goes above and beyond in the subject area of a subject. 

Click here for a complete list of awards, or they can be found on Lafayette’s website under the Class of 2021. 

Parents and seniors can click here to access photos of the ceremony with an email address and the password, “lancers”.