Sure, Adele won album of the year and song of the year. Of course, there was Chance the Rapper’s big win of best rap album and best new artist. Well I say, Grammy-shammy, Haley Meier won sophomore of the year. Meier was recently named the VHS and LISD sophomore of the year, which makes her eligible for a $600 scholarship.

“I think it’s a really good honor,” Meier said. “It’s going to look good on college applications, you can get scholarship money, and then you can keep going and progressing, so it’s a really cool thing that Vandegrift offers.”

Sophomores submitted their applications for this prestigious recognition at the end of January.

“Sophomore of the Year is an award sponsored by the Kiwanis International and Key Club International,” english teacher and Key Club sponsor Kirsten Mulligan said. “The winner is selected based on leadership, service, and a passion for knowledge.”

Meier plays soccer for Vandegrift, but she is also involved in the community.

“I put down that I do a lot of charity work with the National Charity League, and I do some extra stuff with that,” Meier said. “I do a lot of service projects for my church, like mobile loaves and fishes.”

National Charity League is a service organization, and each of the members can choose a specific area in the community they want to focus on. One of Meier’s favorite projects was working with people in a shelter that provided small houses for people in need.

“We got to help them with gardening and all that stuff and then we met someone there,” Meier said. “We continued to talk to him and we ended up doing a service project with him later for Christmas, so that’s been an ongoing project.”

25 students from Vandegrift submitted applications for Sophomore of the Year, making the competition for this recognition challenging.

“I know there are a lot of other really great students at Vandegrift, so I thought I would have a lot of stiff competition,” Meier said. “I was kind of surprised when I got a letter [saying that I was selected].”