Stevens, Tool earn Triple A Award
Posted on: Feb 10, 2021
The COVID-19 era has posed additional challenges to students in academics, arts and athletics, but two Delano High School seniors were recently honored for continuing to excel in all three arenas.
Sophie Stevens and Carter Tool are the school’s Triple A Award winners for 2020-21.
“I was definitely pleasantly surprised to win this award,” said Stevens. “There are so many talented seniors who excel academically and are leaders in both fine arts and athletics. Over the years, so many seniors I looked up to have won the Triple A Award, so it is a huge honor to have achieved this accomplishment.”
Tool is a second-generation award winner. His father, Ryan, who is currently the activities administrator for Delano High School, also earned the honor as a DHS senior in the 1990s.
“It feels great to win,” said Carter Tool.
Sophie Stevens
Stevens is the daughter of Curtis and Laura Stevens of Delano. Her weighted grade point average of 4.16 has been earned while taking some of the most rigorous courses Delano High School has to offer, including Advanced Placement and College in the Schools classes.
Karen Hohenstein teaches CIS chemistry, and said it was remarkable to see Stevens excel in her college-level class without previous chemistry coursework. Stevens also completed Chemistry II during distance learning in the spring of 2020.
“Her strong intuitive nature, when paired with her dedication and sophisticated work ethic, resulted in top marks in my courses,” Hohenstein wrote in a letter of recommendation for the Triple A Award.
Hohenstein added that Stevens is also exceptionally thorough in her academic pursuits, and is “a gifted math and science student.”
“Although it isn’t common for teachers to look forward to grading work, Sophie’s homework and lab reports were a wonderful exception – calculations were shown clearly and thoughts presented extremely well. Her attention to detail is amazing!” Hohenstein wrote.
“My favorite subject in school is anything science-related,” said Stevens. “I have always liked science because it essentially gives explanations for how the world and different processes work, and I have always liked to understand these different things.”
When not in the classroom, Stevens has also been a fixture on the soccer field for the Tigers. She played high school soccer since seventh-grade, including varsity in grades 10-12. She earned all-conference honorable mention honors, and played every minute of every game as a center defender during her senior season. Team honors included the Hard Hat Award for hardest-working defender, as well as Best Defender of the Season honors.
In music, Stevens served as the president of the varsity choir as a freshman, then auditioned for and was accepted into the school’s top vocal ensemble, concert choir, at the end of her sophomore year. She has been chosen to perform in the ACDA State Honor Choir, and as a senior she also lends her alto voice to the select acapella ensemble Sound Revolution.
“Choir has granted the opportunity of expressing myself through music,” Stevens wrote in her application. “Sharing the gift of music with others is a capability important in my personal life. I am able to tell stories through the piano or convey joy through singing.”
Theater has also provided another fine arts outlet for the multi-talented senior. Stevens has performed with Delano Drama since third grade, and has been a regular in both fall and spring productions. She also played the lead role in the school’s one-act production as a junior, and was named the school’s Best Supporting Actress in 2019-20.
While Stevens sometimes worried about how she might be able to fit all of her activities into her schedule, she encouraged younger students to pursue all of their interests because coaches, directors and other administrators always did their best to make the necessary accommodations.
“One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received was to give all of my effort in every single activity I involve myself in,” said Stevens. “This has been truly important to me, and it is what I would say is the number one key to my success. No matter what I am doing, I always try to put my best effort forth. Whether I am performing in a musical, playing defense in a soccer game, or sitting down to take a final, I always ensure I am giving 100%.”
Overall, Stevens said that the value of her efforts and experiences goes well beyond report cards, scoresheets and spotlights.
“My passions for the arts, athletics, and academics allowed me to develop beyond the simplicity of performance,” she wrote in her application. “I have grown into a person who values understanding and applying information rather than merely memorizing facts for an exam.”
In the fall Stevens plans to attend a private four-year university, although she has not yet chosen her final destination, and to major in molecular biology or neurobiology.
“I hope to get involved in many activities on campus as well,” she said. “All the schools I am applying to have so much to offer, but I for sure would like to continue singing in a choir and participate in drama and intramurals.”
Carter Tool
After coming to Delano High School from Dassel-Cokato as a sophomore in 2018, Carter Tool has made his mark. The son of Ryan and Anna Tool of Delano has excelled in his new school on multiple levels.
In the classroom, his favorite subjects are psychology and science, and he carries a weighted grade point average of 3.65. Tool is a member of the boys basketball team that qualified for state last spring but was not able to play there due to COVID. This year he is serving as a captain of that team.
“One of my keys to success is having a short memory when things go bad,” Tool said.
He also played football in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Dassel-Cokato and Delano, and has been active in other activities as well. He is a three-year section leader in choir, and has been a two-year member of Sound Revolution.
“Fine arts activities have always been something that brightens up my day,” Tool wrote in his application for the Triple A Award.
Prior to his time in Delano, Tool also played in the band at Dassel-Cokato, sang in a 9-12 small group that earned a superior rating in competition, and qualified for the state DECA competition.
DHS math teacher Amanda Weinandt characterized Tool as “respectful and resilient” in a letter of recommendation for the Triple A Award, and said he is “committed to serving others.”
“Carter is a person of high character, perseverance and is very caring,” said Weinandt, adding that he was responsible and disciplined enough to perform well during distance learning in her trigonometry/college algebra class.
“My advice for younger students is to keep everything in perspective,” said Tool. “If things seem bad, just look forward a few weeks or months and ask yourself if what you’re worried about now is going to even matter then.”
Tool credited his engagement in arts, academics and athletics with helping to ease his transition to a new school in the midst of his high school career.
“My involvement in all three categories has helped me develop good social skills,” he said in his application. “Being in all of those different activities has brought me into contact with lots of different groups of people that I otherwise wouldn’t have been doing things with. It has helped me to listen to other people through my leadership roles in choir and on the basketball court … [and] made it much easier to find new friends and make connections quickly.”
Weinandt said that overcoming the adversity inherent in changing schools, athletic teams and activities groups will only help Tool as he moves into the future.
“He has a very bright future ahead of him … and (I) know that he will continue his excellence beyond high school,” she said.
Tool plans to attend college next year, but has not yet chosen a school. In the meantime, he intends to appreciate the remainder of his high school career to the fullest.
“COVID has taught me to not take anything for granted, and to cherish what you have,” he said.
Post Categories: High School