The Rocket Launcher Awards is a new, and hopefully annual, event produced by students. It was made to honor the teachers of Judson in an award ceremony that is highly deserved.

The idea for the Rocket Launcher Awards started off in Mrs. Gonzalez’s Anatomy class, and was initially presented as a joke by a student. However, this sparked an idea within Mrs. Gonzalez. She saw the chance for a student oriented event that could possibly better the school. She posed the idea to her students and four brave volunteers signed up for the cause.

Senior Gabriel Adnaez, senior Mykinzee McConnell, senior Brittany Stokes and junior Bethany Johnson have dedicate their time and money to making sure the Rocket Launcher Awards is an enjoyable event for everyone involved.

“Our goal is to make this something teachers look forward to,” Stokes said.

They had minutes to present their idea to Mr. Hernandez in hopes of getting his approval and founding for the event. Since April 21^st, and with a budget of $400 supplied by the school, planning to make this event a success has been underway.

Within these few weeks, much has been done. They came up with categories and sub categories that they feel describe the staff of Judson, and have placed teachers into those categories based on personal experience and student’s opinion. They have also secured a location, and bought trophies to commemorate the night.

Many people have helped with the making of this event. But the group feels that one teacher in particular has been of great help. Mr. Cabrera, the journalism teacher of Judson, agreed to help photograph the event. Not only has he agreed to act as paparazzi, but he has also created the online poll that was much needed to make the awards work.

“I don’t think it would have happened without Mr. Cabrera,” the group said.

Because this is a fairly new event, the categories were centered on junior and senior teachers to act as beta testing. Students, mainly 11^th and 12^th graders, were then allowed to vote for the teachers they thought deserved that award.

Some people believe the award show is biased because it’s based on student’s opinion, but that is the point of this award ceremony. The teachers that will win are the teachers that are best known to fit that category.

“If you think about it, all awards are really a popularity contest,” McConnell said.

But even though some people have their doubts about the event, the group is hoping that once the time comes around, people will see that this is something to be taken seriously. The group has spent their time and money into making sure this event is something that is successful enough to return next year.

“I don’t want to have high expectations, but I’m hoping for the best,” Johnson said.

The event will be held on Thursday, May 14, after school in the cafeteria. Food and drinks may be provided, as they are still waiting for the impending donations from H-E-B, Walmart, and Sam’s. Hosts for the event include Johnson, Adnaez, McConnell, Stokes as well as other students.

As for the future of this award show, the group hopes to make it into an official club. The club will consist of two representatives from each grade level to help incorporate the opinion of all students. Johnson will serve as president and Adnaez, with help from Stokes and McConnell will help oversee the program and help things run smoothly.

Helping to make this award an official event has given each member of the group a different perspective on the way they view the school faculty.

“All of these teachers deserve awards,” McConnell said.

In the end, the group feels as they owe everything to Mrs. Gonzalez. Calling her their “foundation,” they found her “extremely engaging” teaching methods a great success in inspiring their personal lives.

“We did all of this for her,” Stokes said. “We did all of this because of her.”