The group of Dowagiac Union High School sophomores assembled in the library Thursday morning represented the upper crust of their class.

High school administrators recognized the group of 10th graders that morning as part of the school’s Youth Achieving Success program. The school honored the students for receiving all A’s and B’s in their classes during the first semester.

Partnering with the school for the ceremony was Randi Green, general manager of the Dowagiac Little Caesar’s, who handed out coupons for free pizzas and the chain’s signature “crazy bread” to the students.

This is the second year the pizza parlor has worked with Union High for the YES program, said Doug Pearson, the school’s student advocate who organizes the award program.

“The program is a good way to recognize students who are working hard,” Pearson said. “Sometimes, hard work is not recognized the way it should be. It is good to give these kids a pat on the back, as they set a good example for their classmates.”

The group of 50 students is the largest batch of sophomores the program has honored for high grades since 2014, Pearson said. Although the 2014 group was larger in size, Thursday’s batch of students come from a smaller overall 10th-grade class, meaning a higher percentage of the class was represented, Pearson said.

“I really get the sense from the kids they appreciate the recognition,” he said. “That is the best thing this program can do, to make sure these students feel they are being rewarded for what they do in class.”

Other local businesses who have supported YES in the past include McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Saylor’s Pizza and C. Wimberley.

The next ceremony is scheduled to take place in March, where the school will honor freshmen who received all A’s and B’s on their third marking period report cards, Pearson said.

Recognized Thursday were:

Cody Anderson

Edward Armstrong

Hessen Ayers

Zachary Birdsey

Michaela Bjork

Hunter Brackensick

Kadeisha Brooks

Shaelyn Bundy

Madison Cabrillas

Karmraj Chudasama

Kelsey Crocker

Andrew Davis

Mallory Dodd

Hannah Dodson

Cody Dorman

Kailey Fear

Nina Gonzalez

Mae Hartsig

Alyssa Haskins

Alison Henry

Dylan Hill

Tessa Holz

Mariah Hunt

Kylar Kinyon

Peytin Lee

Edwin Linares

Juan Luis-Hernandez

Emily Luthringer

Alexandria Marquart

Katelyn McClung

Andrew McIntosh

Jada Moraca

Cooper Nash

Drew Phillips

Elissa Roberts

Kade Schreiber

Patrick Sirk

Amiyah Smith

Jenifer Smith

Ethan Sovine

Juliana Stanger

Jonathan Stockwell

Madeline Stockwell

Carrie Strauss

Shane Strom

Donovan Sullivan

Michael Symonds

Nicholas Turnbow

Ashley Woolsey

Anna Yeager