NEDERLAND — After a long school year, honor graduates from Nederland High School got to let off some steam at Max Bowl in Port Arthur on Tuesday.

The Nederland Chamber of Commerce hosted the event to show the students that their hard work did not go unnoticed.

The chamber handed out certificates before doing a drawing for a cooler. The students were also gifted bags with gift cards and candy before chowing down on pizza and cookie cake. The honor graduates took to the bowling lanes before hitting the arcades and laser tag.

“I’ve know a lot of these kids since fifth grade, actually,” Nederland High School Counselor Chi Tran said. “I was at C.O. Wilson when some of them were in middle school. I see them as one of my own kids. I spend so much time with them. I’m here more than I am at home.”

Tran said she is proud of how resilient the group has been over the course of their time at NHS.

“They have worked and overcame a lot of obstacles,” she said. “They have taken care of each other. I’m glad they are able to do this. I’m thankful for the chamber for recognizing the kids.”

NHS Principal Steven Beagle said the graduates have represented the school well.

“They have done a super job,” he said. “We couldn’t be more proud of this graduating class. They have not only excelled academically, but they are involved in a vast array of other activities. We have cheerleaders, Westernaires and UIL academic teams. They have represented us well. They have worked really hard and they deserve this opportunity to have a bit of a break. They’ll be back working hard in college.”

NHS honor graduate Jessica Wiedenfeld said she was happy to have some time away from the campus.

“It feels good,” Wiedenfeld said. “For four years, we’ve been sitting in class. We took AP classes and don’t get to take any field trips. I haven’t taken any field trips in high school. It feels good to be able to hang out and do something fun while everyone else is at school sitting around doing work.”

Wiedenfeld said she plans to attend the University of Houston to study biology.

Eric Aviles said it was good to be able to break a bit of the end-of-the-year monotony.

“It’s fun to get out of class,” he said. “I would’ve just been siting on my phone, waiting for school to end. These past two weeks, I’m just waiting to graduate.”

Aviles said he plans to attend the University of Texas to study biology in hopes of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

 

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