During “Night of the Stars,” 142 Tonganoxie Junior High School students were recognized for their hard work during the school year.

“We want to make sure we celebrate the right things at our school,” said principal Steve Woolf.

The star-studded night was patterned after the Academy Awards. Although the school couldn’t come up with 142 limousines, it could use one for the night.

“The kids slipped through one at a time and got their picture taken coming out of the limo,” Woolf said. “Parents were the paparazzi on either side of a line.”

Once inside the school, the students were seated at tables, where their salad awaited them, along with tea or lemonade in plastic champagne glasses.

“The parents worked on this thing, along with the school site council,” Woolf said. “We’ve been planning for months, literally.”

All the windows in the gymnasium were papered over, and stars on the wall glittered in the candlelight as the students’ parents served them steaks, baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

“We had hot dogs for the parents to eat,” Woolf said.

After the meal, students were presented with Pride Awards, as well as certificates for the academic fitness award. Christie Menhusen and Mat Overbaugh also received citizenship awards from the Kansas State High School Activities Association.

The parents and students also were treated to a dance that capped off the evening.

The Pride award-winners are:

Ninth-graders: Andrew Becker, Alison Callaghan, Holly Casper, Ariel Dowdle, Cathy Dowdle, Stephanie Dunlap, Liz Eveland, Jana Gorman, Brian Gravatt, Tara Gurss, Gennifer Hadley, Shanutel Harshfield, Courtney Hoffhines, Spook Holton, Abbie Jones, Beth Knetter, Laura Korb, Megan Lawrence, Becky Lescher, Dani Lohman, Janelle McCoy, Christie Menhusen, Megan Needham, Josh Olsen, Billy Ottens, Mat Overbaugh, Sarah Pence, Jennifer Reischman, Laura Samuels, Becky Shepard, Britain Stites, Alicia Wells and Kelly Woelk.

Eighth-graders: Adam Alexander, Travis Andrews, Christal Athon, Heather Atwell, Jessica Aye, Sarah Bradley, Jason Brammer, Cristen Bray, Ben Brest, Kelly Breuer, Jenny Brown, Luke Brown, Brice Bundy, Amanda Chenoweth, Casey Cooper, Shane Cooper, Justin Davidson, Lindsay Davidson, Tyler Davidson, Emily Davoren, Brianna Deaver, Chad DeGreave, Ginger Dennis, Lauren Donnelly, Stephanie Downs, Becky Fish, Jeff Gibbens, Laura Graveman, Megan Hadley, Heather Harrison, Linsey High, Erin Holton, Karla Holton, Shane Howard, Caitlin Jackson, Lynsey Jansen, Katie Jeannin, Britney Jerome, Kait Kelly, Courtney King, Aubrey Koontz, Seth Kotowski, Justin Lacey, Yvette Laundry. Will Lipe, Matt Madeira, Rebekah Mages, Jayme Mathai, Mollie McCaffrey, Michelle Mcwilliams, Heather Melchior, Amanda Morales, Chase Nowak, Matt Petersen, Heather Reischman, Ian Price, Desirae Rieke, Sami Jo Rieke, Eddie Riley, Sam Rodgers, Stacy Ruff, Jennifer Saultz, Chris Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Nate Smith, Derek Sparks, Lacey St. Clair, Travis Starcher, Michael Stephenson, Brandon Stevens, Ashley VanFleet, Jamie Vaughan, Nick Volk, Chris Watson, Chanel Weide and Heather Young.

Seventh-graders: Shadoe Barton, Matthew Chenoweth, Kara Coffee, Todd Davidson, Hannah Dornbrack, Ashlee Elliott, Sandy Elliott, Jeff Everhart, Stella Felix, Kennith Frevele, Jeffrey Gravatt, Kayla Hammons, Amanda Hart, Abby Hoffhines, Laura Jeannin, Andy Kolman, Andy Koontz, Eddie Lester, Jake McGhee, Ashlee Murphy, Dan O’Hare, Brice Percy, Shannon Pulkrabek, Joel Ratliff, Kirk Rodell, Hunter Samuels, Rachel Smith, Ross Starcher, James Tornedon, John Volk, Madison Weller, Robert Windler and Katie Yunghans.