HOMEPAGE for this issue: May 18, 2011 Download PDF Version // Click to install/update Adobe Reader on your computer

939 students to earn diplomas from local Catholic high schools

The Class of 2011 earns $57.5 million in scholarship awards

By John Gleason

In the coming weeks, 939 graduates will receive their diplomas from the Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Denver.  Many of these young men and women will continue their education in Colorado and elsewhere. As a whole, the graduating classes have earned some $57.5 million in scholarship awards.

Bishop Machebeuf High School
The 95 members of the 2011 graduating class of Bishop Machebeuf High School will see their members spread out across America after they graduate on May 21. A majority of the class, which collectively have been awarded $5.8 million in scholarships, will remain in Colorado to continue their education, but more than a third will leave the state to attend other schools such as Ave Maria University, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Johnson and Wales University, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, New York University and the University of San Francisco.

Salutatorian is Jordan Hames; valedictorian is Suzanne Mikesell.  Mikesell said her years at Machebeuf have formed her in faith and honed her leadership skills.

“We’ve been taught more than simply the facts and knowledge needed to be successful,” she said. “(But also) how to use that knowledge to live morally in the world.”

Holy Family High School
Holy Family High School in Broomfield will hold their commencement today, May 18 on the school campus.  At 147 members, the 2011 graduating class is slightly bigger than last year’s and will be well represented in upper academia.  The students, who this year have amassed more than $11 million in scholarships, will be attending University of Colorado, Regis University, Colorado State University, Gonzaga University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

This year’s valedictorian is Val Jessen who will go on to attend Notre Dame University in Indiana. Sarah Talamantes, the class salutatorian, will attend Cornell University in New York.

Arrupe Jesuit High School
The 57 seniors at Arrupe Jesuit High School will be receiving their diplomas on June 3 and have plans to attend a variety of schools, including Regis University, University of Colorado at Denver, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines.  The close-knit class has earned $1.3 million in scholarships.  At press time, all final exams had not been taken so the names of the salutatorian and valedictorian were not known.  The names and photos of these students will be featured in a future issue of the Denver Catholic Register.

J.K. Mullen High School
On May 22, the 241 senior members of Denver’s J.K. Mullen High School will graduate at commencement exercises at Boettcher Concert Hall. Receiving their diplomas and bidding their high school careers goodbye, the young men and women will fan out across the country to attend Brown University, Gonzaga University, Harvard University, Benedictine College, St. John Vianney College Seminary, Colorado State University and Loyola University of Chicago.  The students have amassed more than $11 million dollars in scholarship awards.

Regis Jesuit High School
Boys Division
Nearly 200 young men will receive their diplomas on May 22 when Aurora’s Regis Jesuit High School Boys Division holds their graduation.  Valedictorian Luke Young and salutatorian Jaden Hawkinson will lead their classmates in the exercises which will be held at Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver.

This year the men of Regis have been awarded $12.7 million dollars in scholarship money and will use it to attend such schools as Baylor University, Boston College, Drake University, Louisiana State University, Stanford University and Syracuse University. Two graduates of the boys division will be attending the U.S. Air Force Academy.

For the 2011 class, Luke Young is valedictorian; Jaden Hawkinson is salutatorian.

“My years at Regis have been years of academic challenge and of personal growth,” Young said. “I look forward to college but I’ll always look back on my high school years with fond memories.”

Regis Jesuit High School
Girls Division
Boettcher Concert Hall will host the graduation of Aurora’s Regis High School Girls Division on May 23. This year, the 150 young women have earned almost $12 million in scholarships. Valedictorian Emily Witt will attend Stanford this fall. Salutatorian is Elizabeth Engle.  Members of the girls division will continue their educations at Bowdoin College, Colgate University, Marquette University, Rice University and Santa Clara University.

“Regis Jesuit High School has given me every opportunity to grow and succeed,” Witt said.

St. Mary’s Academy
On May 21, 53 members of the graduating class of St. Mary’s Academy in Englewood will close out their high school career at the 136th commencement exercises.  Parents and teachers are proud of their students who this year collectively earned $3.7 million in scholarships.  Students are anxiously looking forward to the fall when they will be attending such schools as Bowdoin College, Creighton University, Dartmouth College, Gonzaga, Lehigh University, Santa Clara University and Yale University.

The school does not announce a valedictorian and salutatorian. Instead, it recognizes its top award winners. This year those students are Grace Sollender, who will be attending Dartmouth, and Caroline Parker, who will study at the University of Virginia.

Sollender told the Denver Catholic Register that she will remember St. Mary’s as preparing her well for the future.

“It has helped me to be a strong, independent woman who will go out into the world to be a powerful agent of change,” Sollender said.

Parker shared her classmate’s fond memories of her school.

“I’m going off to college feeling confident in my abilities and grounded in who I am as a young woman,” she said.