Every Year St. Robert has awarded two 8th graders-–one boy and one girl-–the Fresieke award. The Fresieke award is an award for student athletes at  St. Robert was a good leader and showed great sportsmanship. This year’s winners were Jacob and Natalie. Jacob and Natalie s have participated in St. Robert athletics for many years and were extremely honored to have been chosen for this award.

The process of choosing the Fresieke award winners does not fall completely on the St. Robert athletic board. Mrs. Matthews, the 8th grade religion teacher was tasked with handing out sheets of paper for the 8th grade students to nominate one of their fellow classmates for this award. The students nominated who they believed should win, and teachers reviewed the nominations and gave input as well; then the athletic board still had to go through those nominations and choose who they thought should win based on the reasons given from the nominations and teacher input. The athletic board, after consideration of the nominations, chose Jacob and Natalie.   

Jacob showed great sportsmanship and leadership during their sports seasons here at St. Robert and because of that he was awarded the Fresieke award. In an interview with Jacob, he said, “I believe my fellow classmates nominated me, because I am kind and friendly to everyone and help many people out throughout the years. I have also been a good leader and helped a lot of my classmates.”  Jacob was partially correct; one of Jacob’s classmates said, “I nominated Jacob due to his dedication and participation in all St. Robert sports.” Jacob was extremely competitive, but even through his competitive spirit, he still was kind and showed  great sportsmanship to all. 

Natalie, like Jacob, showed great sportsmanship and leadership in St. Robert sports. Natalie said that she thinks her classmates nominated her because “I try to have good sportsmanship. I’d be kind to people and do my hardest in all sports. I also try to have a positive outlook, no matter what is happening during games or practices.” Natalie showed her dedication and sportsmanship throughout her years of playing sports at St. Robert, and this year she was awarded the Fresieke award. One of Natalie’s classmates says “Natalie is so much fun to be around, especially at practice. As a volleyball team we have had some tough losses and rough practices, but Natalie has always had a smile on her face through it all, which is why I nominated her.” 

The two worked very hard during their years at St. Robert sports, showing leadership, sportsmanship, and dedication and were honored to have received this award.