It has been brought to our attention that Duncan Ziegler, was given the top honor at Green Mountain High School, the Top of the Mountain Award for the second time. Mr. Ziegler has continuously amazed those around him and we are extremely happy to have him as both a student and as an instructor at Mountain Academy of Martial Arts Lakewood.

The Top of the Mountain Award is the top award given at Green Mountain High School for each grade and gender, so one goes to a freshman boy and girl, a sophmore boy and girl, and so forth. Typically, the Top of the Mountain goes to kids who are on track to be class president, or valedictorian — they have grades over 4.0 (honors classes are weighted on a 5.0 scale), and are very involved in school activities. Duncan’s grades are good (3.5 GPA), but they are not in that astronomical range.

When asked, the school councilor how Duncan made it to these heady heights, she said, “while some of the award criteria is grade-based, etc it can be many other things such as personality, involvement, overcoming challenges, etc. Keep in mind that the entire staff votes and I think many have been impressed with him on many levels. Many are impressed with his successes despite his dyslexia, etc. He is just AWESOME!”

One of the outside activities they mentioned as they gave out the award was that Duncan has a black belt. The discipline needed to become a black belt has certainly helped to give Duncan the quiet confidence to know that he can he can achieve what he sets out to do. That is powerful knowledge for a 17-year old to have.