Academic All-Star – Renaissance High

Published February 26, 2016

The Academic All-Star award is given to students who exhibit a positive attitude and a commitment to excellence in the classroom. Each Academic All-Star is chosen by his or her principal and receives a framed certificate, coupons to Sonic Drive-In and a free gift courtesy of Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More in Franklin.

Growing up in a military family, 17-year-old Mackenzie Randall has attended schools in states as far away as California and Virginia. But it wasn’t until she arrived at Renaissance High this fall that she fully began to embrace her education.

“I love it here,” said Mackenzie. “The teachers at Renaissance can really focus on you as an individual student. It’s something I didn’t get at a couple of the other schools I attended so I appreciate that a lot.”

Mackenzie’s dedication to her schoolwork has not gone unnoticed, which is why she was a unanimous choice for this year’s Academic All-Star award.

“Mackenzie is as resilient and self-determined as any student I can remember,” said Principal Dr. Brian Bass. “She has developed elaborate systems of tracking her proficiency of her grades on all her standards in each class and doesn’t check them off until each individual target is proficient. She is kind, thoughtful and empathetic.”

Teachers describe the 17-year-old as a wonderful student who is always willing to help her fellow classmates.

“Mackenzie is the most consistently, hard-working student I have worked with in six years of public education,” said Renaissance teacher Christine Gupton. “It is truly a joy to work with her.”

Mackenzie credits teachers like Ms. Gupton with instilling a new-found passion for school.

“For the first time, I actually really enjoy math which is weird,” said Mackenzie. “I also enjoy history, and I’ve been doing the web program here so I’m learning about programming and JavaScript and all that. It’s so much fun.”

Although she’s just a junior, Mackenzie says she would eventually like to study computer engineering at Middle Tennessee State University. In the meantime, she plans to keep doing all the things that led the teachers and staff at Renaissance to name her as the school’s Academic All-Star.

“This award is wonderful,” said Mackenzie. “It warms my heart, and I’m very grateful. My mom is definitely going to post a very long Facebook status about this.”