WSJ News Online
YOUR COMMUNITY CONNECTION
Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar
You need Java to see this applet.
Proviso East SCOTY recipient
heads west

PROVISO | Ariana Novak is this year’s School Citizen of the Year (SCOTY)
award winner for Proviso East High School. She is a scholar athlete with a
4.0 grade point average and a leadership presence on the girls’ basketball
team and the track and field team. She’s also an active member of Proviso
East’s National Honor Society, the National Society for High School Scholars,
and the educational group, The Happiness Club. Now, after receiving offers
from Howard University, the University of Michigan, and Yale, Novak
accepted an admissions offer from Central State University in Ohio.
 
“My uncle graduated from Central State,” said Novak. “He is smart and
successful. That helped me in my college choice. I’m going to go there and
continue to play basketball.”
 
Novak’s uncle, Tobias Brown, is also a graduate of Proviso East High School.
He went on to Central State in 1993 and graduated in the top one percent at
the University. He says Novak has made the entire family proud.
 
“As her uncle, I am honored and extremely proud that she chose Central
State University,” said Brown. “She is an outgoing and smart individual, and
they are definitely getting a jewel in Ariana. We expect nothing but the best
from her. The entire family is very proud, and we’re looking forward to good
things.”
 
Her mother Latrise Novak echoed those remarks.  “Ariana has all of these
accomplishments,” said Ms. Novak. “She strives for the best. She will push
until she gets that ‘A’ and then we go from there. She has always been an all-
around kid. Anything you put in front of her she will do her best at it. I am
proud of her. She doesn’t try to be better than anyone else—she just strives
to be better than herself.”
 
Ariana is planning to become a dentist. She says she is excited about the
next step on her journey, and she is grateful for the encouragement and the
fact that Proviso East has prepared her along the way.
 
“The principal said that I’d made a positive impact during my senior year,”
said Novak.  “That really made me feel like I can do more. Proviso East has
prepared me so much. Mr. Patch encouraged me to get involved and interact
more. Then my grades and everything got better. East has definitely
prepared me for college.”