Students, faculty, family and friends, and community leaders were present at the Marietta Schools Foundation Awards Gala Thursday at the Strand Theatre.

Performances included:

• Sawyer Road Elementary, Guys & Dolls;
• Hickory Hills Elementary, STOMP!;
• Lockheed Elementary, Singing Jets;
• West Side Elementary, Fiddler on the Roof; and
• Marietta Sixth Grade Academy, Seussical the Musical.

Scholarships were presented to the following Marietta High School students:

• Darryl Smith, Georgia Superintendent of the Year Educational Scholarship;
• Jacquelyn Ellis, The Cheryl Love Educational Scholarship;
• Kardell Gaines, The Ben T. Wilkins Scholarship;
• Jaqueline Danielle Eno, Adeline H. D’Amelio Scholarship; and
• Mary Allyson Chastain, Scott Barton Memorial Scholarship.

Admiral Jim Ellis received the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award. He is a 1965 graduate of Marietta High School.

After graduating high school, Ellis attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, which he graduated in 1969 with a degree in aerospace engineering. Ellis completed a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech in 1970. He also earned a master’s degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida while in flight training in Pensacola. He was in the Navy for 39 years, retiring in 2004 as a Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command.

Ellis returned to Marietta in 2005. He became president and chief executive officer of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.