Senior Anna Katherine Cates was named Rome Noon Optimist Club Student of the Year in the All-Around category at the Student of the Year Banquet on March 21.
Cates is an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the Cum Laude Society, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, and Spanish Honor Society. A Furman Scholar, she has received the Phi Beta Kappa Book Award; the Georgia Certificate of Merit; the Hanks Medal; two Class Scholarship Awards; and E.L. Wright Awards for English 1, English 3, AP Biology, AP Spanish Language and Culture, and AP U.S. History.
In addition, Cates serves as president of the Y-Cabinet and Spanish Club; captain of her varsity cheerleading squad and soccer team; and an Admission Tiger Expert. She has participated in the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce High School Leadership Rome Program, the U.S. Naval Academy Summer STEM Program, and the Darlington Center for Integrity and Leadership.
Her passion for serving others led her to co-found Donate Health Inc., a service organization that collects and ships first-world medical supplies to clinics in Guatemala, along with classmate Christina Kinder. The two were inspired to do so after participating in a Refuge International mission trip to the country.
