T&G Student of the Week competition to launch Jan. 22

For the past few years, the sports department at the Telegram & Gazette has nominated standout high school athletes for consideration as Player of the Week in their respective sports.

Readers then get to vote for the Player of the Week in each sport. It's one of the most popular features on our website, telegram.com.

It gives us another chance to highlight excellent athletic accomplishments while also allowing our readers to engage and support their favorite high school sports stars.

One thing we haven't always done a good job of doing is shining a light on those who are high achievers in the classroom.

Now, we're going to do something about that.

Starting later this month and continuing for the remainder of the school year, the T&G will be running a regular Student of the Week competition.

We've contacted high schools throughout Worcester County and invited them to submit a student each week whose achievements in the classroom merit recognition.

Each Monday, beginning Jan. 22 (with the exception of school vacation weeks), we'll collect the submissions and run a poll on telegram.com, where readers can make their pick for Student of the Week.

We'll publish the winner online on Fridays and in print Sundays in an article that also lists all the nominees, with a couple of sentences about their academic accomplishments.

I'm excited about this new way to recognize the outstanding students of Central Massachusetts, and invite you to get involved later this month.

Michael McDermott is executive editor of the Telegram & Gazette.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: T&G Student of the Week competition to launch in January