Throughout the year, Louisville’s student-athletes have dazzled and entertained members of the Wildcat community with championship-worthy efforts in numerous fields of play. On Thursday, the Louisville community will have the opportunity to reciprocate those efforts.
Louisville High School will hold its annual awards banquet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the school’s auditorium. However, the event this year will feature a number of twists.
“My principal, Mr. (Hilute) Hudson had this vision that he wanted to make our awards show like the ESPYs and have a red carpet beforehand where the kids get dressed, take pictures and get interviewed,” Louisville broadcast journalism and oral communication teacher Robby Donoho said. “So that was kind of the motivation behind doing the red carpet and doing all these other little fun things during the ceremony to try to get kids involved and excited about it.”
The ceremony is being dubbed a “black tie affair” and student-athletes will begin their stroll down the red carpet at 5:30 p.m. The first of its kind at the school, Donoho said Louisville’s students eagerly await the opportunity to don their Sunday best for the one-of-a-kind ceremony.
“I think the kids are really excited about it,” he said. “Ever since I got here, I wanted to put the emphasis on making the kids the stars and really bolster their profile, and make Louisville an amazing place to be. It seems like the kids have really taken a liking to it. Kids love seeing themselves on video and on YouTube – that makes my job easy. The kids are looking forward to Thursday, and it gives them another reason to dress up and look sharp. I know I’ll be wearing my black tie.”
One twist this year is members of the Louisville community will have an active role in determining award recipients. Donoho and school officials have created a Google docs file and have encouraged members of the community to vote for winners in categories, such as Most Valuable Powercat of the Year, Boys Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and others. The reception thus far has been stellar.
“Everyone gets really excited about sports around here, so it’s really not too hard to talk about football, basketball, baseball, track or anything like that in Louisville,” Donoho said. “It really hasn’t been too difficult getting people excited about what we have in the future, and obviously what we’ve accomplished this past season here at Louisville.”
Donoho said he and members of Louisville’s academic community are excited to honor and celebrate their student’s athletic achievements Thursday. Part of their roles as educators, he said, is to not only equip students with the academic skills but to also celebrate their accomplishments outside of the classroom. Thursday’s ceremony will achieve just that.
“We want to build the future and build the next generation of great kids here at Louisville, and not only being an educator and a teacher but also having the opportunity to make great memories on video and give the kids something to look forward to outside of just being in the classroom,” he said. "It’s a win-win all the way around for everyone… showcasing their accomplishments and what all they’ve been able to do in this year here at Louisville.”
