SALISBURY — The 12th Annual Excellence in Education Awards, a community student achievement honor, was recently held on Sept. 17 to honor 28 students of the Class of 2011.

Students from area high schools, including Newburyport High School, Amesbury High School, Pentucket Regional High School, Triton Regional High School, The Governor's Academy, Sparhawk School and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, were nominated by school administrators as those who give that "extra" effort and who would not normally be recognized for their hard work and commitment. The event was founded and sponsored by the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank.

This year's featured speaker was Thomas Hoare, a Newburyporter who served as deputy chief of staff of U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the component of the Department of Homeland Security with overall responsibility for the security of our nation's borders and the largest law enforcement agency in the United States.

He had worked in the White House Chief of Staff's Office, where he worked in the West Wing supporting White House Chiefs of Staff Andrew Card and Josh Bolten. In 2005, he served as special assistant to the director of Events and Operations at the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee, assisting the director in the execution of all of the events associated with the first post-9/11 presidential inaugural.

He grew up working at Ten Center Street & Molly's Pub, the restaurant started by his father and named for his mother.

This year's award winners are:

Amesbury High School

Domenic Bondar

Christopher Ellen

Alexa Jackson

Nicholas Predki

The Governor's Academy

Jennifer Basow

Felix Emiliano

Dylan Binnie

Taylor Reeh

Triton Regional High School

Christopher Clark

Hadley Crossman

Danielle Doucot

Adele Kneeland

Newburyport High School

Nick Healey

Cassandra Davis

Isabella Costa

Same Moore

Pentucket Regional High School

William Shaffer

Sarah Kaufman

Catherine Scott

Mimi Auger

Whittier Regional High School

Cory Gallo

Emily Honeywell

Ethan Scully

Ashley Whitaker

Sparhawk School

Nicholas Perkins

Lucas Flach

Roger Brady

Sophie Curti