MOUNT VERNON – Christopher Hawthorne recalls that while his elementary school classmates were running and playing he often was studying how the playground equipment was put together.
Such was the young boy’s early fascination with engineering.
Hawthorne, a senior at Mount Vernon High School, is the Knox Educational Service Center’s (ESC) 2025 Franklin B. Walter All-Scholastic Award winner. He has been accepted at Ohio State University where he plans to pursue a dual academic path of physics and engineering.
County ESC superintendents throughout Ohio started the All-Scholastic Award program in 1989 to recognize outstanding seniors from across the state. It is named in honor of Walter, Ohio’s 31st state superintendent of public instruction.
Hawthorne ranks second in his graduating class of 294 with a grade-point average of 4.521.
“I have had some very strong teachers here. They and my parents definitely pushed me,” Hawthorne said. “They have been a big part of what I think about and the way I think about things. I am very grateful to them.”
Hawthorne is as passionate about music as he is about science. He plays the piano with five different high school and college jazz bands around the county and viola with the Knox County Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the high school men’s tennis team and serves on the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council. He volunteers with the Knox County Park District to monitor bluebird populations and protect hellbender habitats.
Add to all that his role as programmer for an independent VEX robotics team and the bronze medal he won on the Le Grands Concours national French exam. For the last two summers he has managed Mount Vernon’s city water park.
“I’ve always been a science guy,” Hawthorne said. “I plan to study both engineering and physics at OSU which could lead to a career in nuclear engineering, maybe nuclear power or fusion research.”
In a three-page letter of recommendation that accompanied Hawthorne’s application for the Walter award, chemistry teacher Kristin Hofferberth extolled his “many strengths.”
“When I say that Christopher learns quickly, I mean that in earnest,” she wrote. “He is one of the fastest learners I have worked with in my career, which spans over 20 years, working through problems and assignments at a pace that far outstrips his classmates.”
Counselor Eryn Fawcett describes Hawthorne as a great communicator who easily gets along with everyone.
“You can’t ask for him to do anything more. He is completely self-driven,” she said.
Calculus teacher Erin Daniels also recommended Hawthorne for the Walter award, writing, “He is such a rare find in his scholastic endeavors. It is sometimes hard to find true thinkers and analytic minds. He is such a great asset to the classroom, to our school and to the greater community.”
Knox ESC Superintendent Dr. Timm Mackley commended each of the seniors nominated by the county school districts, citing their outstanding records of success. Hawthorne emerged as the Walter award recipient after a detailed review of all applications by a five-member ESC committee.
Hawthorne, his parents, Dr. Mackley and MVHS Principal Cory Caughlan plan to attend the state Walter award luncheon April 14 at the Renaissance Columbus Westerville-Polaris Hotel.