Catholic schools graduate 503 seniors

Projected scholarships could reach $26 million

The Diocese of Tucson’s six Catholic high schools have graduated 503 seniors, and nearly every one is going on to college.
“That is quite an accomplishment, and one that I am very grateful to our teachers, our parents and our students for achieving,” said Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas.
Bishop Kicanas celebrated baccalaureate Masses for each of the high schools and extended his congratulations in person.
“As our fine graduates prepare for the next phase of their lives, I pray each will retain the firm beliefs and strength of character our schools taught them in preparation for their adult lives,” the Bishop said.
Combined, the graduates at the six schools will be eligible for scholarships totaling $6,471,716 in the coming school year, and that projects to a four-year figure of nearly $26 million.

San Miguel Catholic

The 64 graduates attended baccalaureate Mass on May 17 at St. Augustine Cathedral and graduation was held on May 19 at Casino del Sol grand ballroom.
Almost 97 percent of the graduates are going on to college, and the graduates earned $821,732 in merit scholarships.
The class valedictorian is Jennifer Mendoza, with a grade point average of 4.07, and the class salutatorian is Maria Jimenez, with a 4.07 GPA. Others in the top 10 percent of the class are Darlene Heredia, 4.02; Amorrette Sanchez-Valdenegro, 4.00; Amanda Alvarado, 3.95; Enrique Valenzuela, 3.95.
Colleges that the students will attend include the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Creighton University, Eastern Arizona College, El Camino College, Grand Canyon University, Mount St. Mary’s University, Pima Community College, Regis University, St. Mary’s University, the University of New Mexico and Western New Mexico University.

Lourdes Catholic

Baccalaureate Mass for the 22 graduates was held on May 18 at Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in Nogales, followed by the graduation ceremony in the evening at the high school’s Sister Luisa Maria Valdez Gymnasium.
All of the graduates will be going on to a community college or university.

St. Augustine Catholic

Baccalaureate Mass for the 24 graduates was held on May 19 at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, with graduation following in the St. Augustine High School gymnasium.
All of the graduates are going on to college, including our Arizona universities along with Fordham University, Whittier College, Eastern Oregon University, Southern Utah University, Holy Names University, Santa Fe University of Art Design,Western New Mexico, DeSales University, the University of California at San Diego and the Catholic University of America.
The class valedictorian is Serena Campas, a National Hispanic Scholar, who will attend the University of Arizona Honors College to study philosophy, politics, economics, and law.
The class salutatorian is Jose “Petey” Galvan, also a National Hispanic Scholar, who plans to attend Arizona State University, Barrett Honors’ College and major in biomedical engineeering.

Immaculate Heart

Baccalaureate Mass was held on May 23 and the graduation ceremony on May 25 in the high school’s gymnasium. The entire graduating class of 23 students is going on to colleges throughout Arizona, and two students will be heading out of state to continue their education. Five of the graduates took 10 Advanced Placement tests.
Kellen McCoy is class valedictorian with a GPA of 4.1 and she will attend the University of Arizona on a full academic scholarship.
Lou-Anne Wegrzyniak (pronounced Verdinak), is the salutatorian with a GPA of 3.9. Lou-Anne was the yearbook publisher and newspaper editor. Both She and Kellen are members of the National Honor Society.

Yuma Catholic

Baccalaureate Mass for the 63 graduates was on May 25 at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, with graduation following in the Ricky Gwynn Stadium. Yuma Catholic’s graduates all are going to college.
The class valedictorian is Margeaux Miller, and Kaitlin Secker is the Salutatorian. The rest of the “Top 10” students are Sean Franklin, Ryan Gill, Matthew Koppinger, Viviana Torres, Phillip Hoovestol, Ashley DeCorse, Megan Wren and Armando Aguirre. In addition to high academic standards, Yuma Catholic boasts winning the school’s first state football championship, the Region V championship, last fall.
The graduates will attend colleges situated all over the country.

Salpointe Catholic

Baccalaureate Mass was held on May 26 at St. Augustine Cathedral. Graduation followdc at Tucson Convention Center for Salpointe’s 266 graduating seniors, all of whom are going on to college at a long list of nearly 200 colleges and universities nationwide.

Among the top students are Skyler Milligan-LeCroy and Courtney Amos, both of whom were graduation speakers. In addition, the following seniors have received special honors: Greg Gilles is a National Merit Scholar who will be attending the University of Pennsylvania; William Wallace and Iliana Gonzales received a Carmelite Medal, and Madeline Owen received the John Hughes Spirit Award.