By Per Peterson
Tracy Area High School juniors Jenna Spanovich and Trayton Radke formed an on-stage bond during this year’s musical “The Little Mermaid,” and now they have something else pretty special in common.
Spanovich and Radke are this year’s ExCEL nominees from Tracy Area High School.
ExCEL stands for Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership; it’s a recognition program for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, who show leadership qualities, and who work voluntarily in their community. Every member school of the League is invited to nominate one girl and one boy for the ExCEL Award. Nominees must be a junior in high school; make satisfactory progress toward graduation; participate in a MSHSL fine arts and/or athletic activity; hold a leadership position(s) in their school; and work voluntarily in their community.
ExCEL Award recipients will be selected by an independent panel of judges from schools throughout the state. Each recipient will be recognized on KSTC-TV (Channel 45) during the broadcasts of the winter tournaments.
This is the 24th year that the Minnesota State High School League has sponsored the ExCEL Award; Wells Fargo is the program’s new sponsor.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.