The Greenwood High School Woodmen Hall of Fame display hangs on a wall inside the school Tuesday. GHS is planning to relaunch its alumni Hall of Fame and is seeking applicants.
Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
A distinguished award for Greenwood High School alumni is seeking nominees for its 2023 class.
Greenwood Community High School’s Woodmen Hall of Fame award was formally relaunched earlier this month. The Hall of Fame is a distinguished award that honors individuals whose actions and character exemplify outstanding achievement in their life’s work and service to their communities. Those who are chosen are expected to “embody a spirit and leadership qualities” that are worthy of recognition by GHS, and have inspired praise and gratitude among their peers, according to school officials.
The relaunching of the award comes more than 16 years since the school last gave out the honors.
Greenwood High School Principal Michael Gasaway had recently noticed that the Hall of Fame display has not been updated since 2007. Curious, he began to investigate what happened to the program, which had been put on through the school’s alumni association. It had just been pushed to the wayside, he said.
“I thought, ‘Well, we got a lot more people in Greenwood that have done some pretty awesome things. We need to try to start this back up,’” Gasaway said.
This is not Gasaway’s first time starting an Alumni Hall of Fame. He also started a hall of fame in his previous job as principal at Madison Consolidated High School.
“If our Greenwood students can see some people who’ve graduated from Greenwood and went on to do some pretty amazing things in their lives, that’s always a good thing,” he said.
Since the school first announced the program was relaunching earlier this month, Gasaway has already received a few applications for potential nominees. By the time of the nomination deadline near the end of May, he expects to have a dozen or so applications, he said.
The district is also seeking the public’s help in finding nominees. If anyone knows of a GHS graduate doing good things worthy of nomination, they should fill out an application, Gasaway said.
In order to be nominated, the person must be a living or deceased graduate who made meaningful contributions. Nominees must also be 10 years removed from graduation, meaning those from the class of 2013 and older are eligible, school officials say.
Anyone interested in submitting a name to be considered for the honors can download the application from the GHS website or stop by the school to request a nomination form, school officials say. All applications must be sent to Greenwood High School, Attention: Hall of Fame Selection Committee, 615 W. Smith Valley Road, Greenwood, IN 46142.
Applications can also be emailed to Gasaway at [email protected]. The deadline for submitting a nomination is May 29.
The completed application must be filled out and turned in by the deadline to be considered. To download the application, nominators can go to ghstimberlines.com/alumni-hall-of-fame-nominations/.
Once the completed application is turned in, the 2023 class will be chosen by a selection committee. Selected recipients will be notified by Gasaway about the induction ceremony at a later date, which will likely be after the start of the next school year, he said.
If someone isn’t selected for this round, there’s always next year, Gasaway said.
“It needs to be celebrated — people’s body of work and what they’ve gone on to do,” he said.
