In May of 2024, the Louisiana Department of Education named Benton High School senior, Zach Cryer, the 2024 Louisiana High School Student of the Year. This is an amazing title to be awarded and for Cryer, it was the evidence of his hard work and leadership that he has shown throughout his time as a student.

“The Student of the Year Award is given based on a culmination of all aspects of being a student, so being able to consistently achieve this award at the highest level throughout my entire educational career is truly special,” Zach Cryer said.

Being named Louisiana Student of Year means that not only was he selected by his school, he was also selected to represent Bossier Parish at the state level where he was awarded the state title. Cryer has been named the Louisiana Student of the Year a total of three times. He won this award in 2017 as the Louisiana Elementary Student of the Year and in 2020 as the Louisiana Middle School Student of the Year.

“I’m proud to have held this award three times now, and am honored that I am the only student in the history of the award to do so,” Cryer stated.

Cryer has been an active participant in many things during his time as a student in Bossier Parish. From being the Louisiana 4-H President, which has allowed him to connect with lawmaking officials at the state level and nationwide, to a Bossier Teen Court Juror, National Youth Conference leader, member of the Student Council, and holding a position as a BETA Officer, Cryer has learned many skills to help him better the community around him. Many of these skills were learned during his time as a Bossier Parish Student.

“The best thing I’ve learned while being a Bossier Parish Student is the power of positive leadership,” Cryer recalled. “Throughout my K – 12 journey I’ve had the luxury of learning under incredible teachers, administration and parish leadership, and watching the passion with which they teach and lead the youth in their schools and parish inspired me to take a similar attitude to leadership and service.”

In addition to the leadership roles in the organizations that he was involved in, Cryer was also a student-athlete. All the while, he maintained a 4.0 grade point average. His commitment to his education was always a priority.

“Maintaining such a high GPA throughout all of my involvements required constant communication and cooperation with my teachers,” Cryer commented. “I missed a lot of school for speaking arrangements and out-of-town conferences, but my teachers were always willing to allow me as much time as necessary to make sure I got back on track.”

Through his hard work, Cryer graduated from Benton High School and will attend Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge to major in Nutrition and Food Science on the pre-medicine track within the LSU Honors College and Stamps Scholars Program. After college, Cryer plans to attend medical school to become a rheumatologist.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue some kind of medical career, but I now focus on rheumatology because of the unique situations that rheumatologists treat,” he shared. “Often, rheumatoid conditions are chronic, and many patients may be anxious at the diagnosis of a lifelong condition.”

This fall Cryer will be heading down south but there will be many people up north cheering him on. We are Bossier Proud of him!