May 19, 2010

Local Catholic high schools to graduate nearly 900 students

By John Gleason

In the next two weeks, 879 students will be graduating from the six Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Denver. Many will go on to attend colleges, both here in Colorado and across the country.

Holy Family High School
Holy Family High School in Broomfield will hold their commencement, today, May 19, on campus.  This year’s 138 seniors, who have collectively been awarded more than $8.5 million in scholarships, will bid their school goodbye and set off for such schools as Catholic University of America, Gonzaga University, University of Dayton and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Ashlyn Affelt is the 2010 salutatorian. Valedictorian is Connor Meining, who will be attending the Colorado School of Mines.  He said that in his speech to his fellow students, he planned to say that leaving the close-knit community of Holy Family is a bittersweet but necessary step.
“We’ve experienced the past and now we have to prepare for the future,” he told the Denver Catholic Register.  “Our hopes and aspirations build that future; the decisions we make now will affect us in the long run.”

Bishop Machebeuf High School
Commencement for Bishop Machebeuf High School will be held this year at the University of Denver on May 23. The 68 members of the 2010 class have reason to be proud of themselves.  To date, the class has brought home more than $2.5 million in scholarship awards.  The school has two salutatorians, Vanessa Hacker and Samantha Aksamit.  Valedictorian Zoey Murzyn, who will attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, is not surprised at what she and her classmates have accomplished in their high school career.
“This is a place where each of us can grow as individuals,” she said from notes of the speech she plans to deliver at commencement.  “There is a love of Christ demonstrated by both students and faculty like no where else.  Using this, we may not all change the world, like so many grads dream about.  But perhaps we can touch the lives of a few people.  That’s the sort of difference that everyone can make.”
Some of the destination schools for the Machebeuf graduates include Benedictine College, Drake University, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Colorado Film School and the University of St. Thomas.

Regis Jesuit High School
On May 23, the boys division of Regis Jesuit High School will hand 200 graduates their diplomas.  Valedictorian Jonathan Law and salutatorian Andrew Tilley will lead their classmates through commencement exercises to be held at Temple Buell Theater in Denver.  To date, the class has been awarded $11.2 million in scholarship money.
This year’s graduation class from the girls division of Regis Jesuit High School numbers 123.  Commencement will be held on May 24 also at Temple Buell Theater.  The class has earned almost $10 million in scholarship money. This year the girls division is even more proud as they announced that Jena Fleiner has become the first student from Regis Jesuit’s girls division to be awarded the Boettcher Scholarship.  Valedictorian is Jessica Alpert; salutatorians are Erin Dempsey and Megan Dempsey.
Among the schools of destination for the boys and girls divisions are College of the Holy Cross, Loyola University, Regis University, Xavier University and the U.S. Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy.

Arrupe Jesuit High School
Fifty-four students, many of whom are the first in their families to graduate high school, will participate in commencement exercises for Arrupe Jesuit High School on May 28.  The students of this northwest Denver school have so far won $3.73 million in scholarship awards. Graduates will be attending such schools as Boston College, Colorado School of Mines and Creighton University.  The 2010 salutatorian is Felicia Vallejo; valedictorian is Jose Madrid.  Madrid, who will attend Georgetown University to study government and economics, will hammer home the importance of education to his classmates during commencement.
“The core values we found here began with caring,” he told the Register.  “People cared to send us to Arrupe to receive an education to better ourselves.  We need to take what we’ve learned and see what impact we can have on the broader world.”

St. Mary’s Academy
On May 15, 69 young women took part in the 135th graduation exercises of St. Mary’s Academy in Englewood.  Together, the class has been awarded nearly $6.9 million in scholarship money.  The school does not announce a valedictorian and salutatorian. Instead, it recognizes its top award winners.  Those students are Morgan Flynn and Katie Horvath, who are recipients of the Marian Award, given to the seniors who have shown outstanding leadership, loyalty and academic achievement.  Among some of the schools St. Mary’s graduates will be attending are Princeton University, Bates College, Washington University in St. Louis, Notre Dame and Santa Clara.

J.K. Mullen High School
The 227 members of Mullen High School’s graduating class will file into Temple Buell Theater today, May 19, to receive their diplomas and bid their high school careers goodbye. Led by valedictorian Katrina Zamudio and salutatorian Jennifer Simpson, this year’s class has amassed more than $13.9 million in scholarship awards.  Among the many schools that this year’s Mullen grads will be attending are Catholic University of America, Purdue University, Stanford University, LaSalle University, Dartmouth and Texas Christian and the United States Air Force Academy.