Students, teachers and board members alike were the guests of honor at a packed meeting of the Cullman County Board of Education Thursday evening.

The early portion of the board’s January meeting served as a sort of informal mid-year awards ceremony, with student athletes and scholars taking turns as the board and Superintendent Shane Barnette recognized each in turn.

Among the teams and organizations honored at Thursday’s meeting were two academic groups: The Vinemont High School InSPIRESS team and the Good Hope Middle School robotics team.

InSPIRESS (Innovative System Project for the Increased Recruitment of Emerging STEM Students) is a partnership between Vinemont, the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) and NASA. Vinemont students research and design a space technology project given by UAH representatives, then present their solutions to NASA officials.

The Good Hope robotics team took one of the top prizes last month at the South’s BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) championship at Auburn University, competing against 57 other teams from 16 hubs across five southeastern states.

In addition to academics, the board also recognized athletic accomplishments at a number of county schools, including the Good Hope Middle School football team, the Cold Springs Middle School girls’ basketball team, the West Point Middle School boy’s basketball team, the West Point Middle School girls’ volleyball team, the Fairview JV and Varsity volleyball teams, and the Cold Springs boys’ and girls’ cross country teams.

“Our students have represented Cullman County Schools with character and with class, and they have all shown a great competitive spirit that respects their opponents and their teammates,” said Barnette. “Across the board, we have wonderful coaches, sponsors, faculty and parents all standing behind a terrific group of young people who continue to accomplish amazing things.”

After the board had finished recognizing all the athletic and academic accomplishments, students turned the tables, presenting the board with some recognition of its own.

Members of a group of students from Welti Elementary each took turns singling out an individual board member, presenting them with a thank-you bag accompanied by a few remarks of gratitude for his support.

“This month is school board recognition month, so it was really a special honor for them to come out on a rainy night and recognize every board member,” said Barnette. “It’s kind of humbling to see the young people in our school system take initiative and show the kind of leadership and personal qualities that our kids consistently show.”