Night of Celebration for CPSD Honor Graduates

They are headed to the Ivy Leagues and the Army. To be chemical engineers, nurses – and even a college cheerleader.

They are the Clover Park School District’s 82 honor graduates, and on Wednesday night, they were celebrated for the achievements.

A dessert reception and medallion ceremony at Clover Park High School honored the seniors who have maintained a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher over their four years in high school – something that Superintendent Debbie LeBeau called, “not easy to do.”

While the ceremony kicked off the next few weeks of celebrations for the Class of 2011, “This truly is the group we want to recognize separately, because of their achievements,” she said.

LeBeau pointed out that a lot of the seniors have not spent their whole four years in the district.

“It’s nice to have that recognition that no matter where they were, they accomplished something in their high-school years that is deserving of that recognition,” she said.

Lakes Principal Kären Mauer-Smith and Clover Park Principal John Seaton introduced each student and read a brief biography as they took the stage to be presented with a medallion by School Board members Carole Jacobs and Paul Wagemann.

The list of accomplishments was long: Youth Council and National Honor Society members; ASB and JROTC officers; varsity athletes and yearbook editors.

“You guys are the example of good things happening in Lakewood and the Clover Park School District,” Jacobs said in remarks to the crowd of seniors, family members and staff.

Such recognition meant a lot to Clover Park senior Celina Kim, who will study biology at the University of Washington.

“It feels wonderful just to know that all four of my years paid off and to be here and celebrate my achievements,” she said. “It was stressful at points … I definitely had times where I said ‘Why am I doing this; is it really worth it?’

“But now I’m here at the end and having a 4.0 made it so much easier to apply to colleges, and it’s something I’m really proud of.”

Lakes senior Colette Moss, who is also headed to UW, to study psychology, felt similarly.

“It feels amazing,” she said. “All of those nights when I was like ‘I don’t want to stay up late and finish this project’ or ‘I don’t want to give that extra effort,’ it’s all coming to fruition, and it’s nice to be recognized for it.”

And the seniors were definitely excited, because it meant the clock was ticking on the remainder of their high-school days.

“We have a countdown going at school,” Moss said with a laugh.

Her best friend and fellow Lakes senior Chanel Washington, who will study governmental relations at Harvard University, clarified: “Including weekends, there are 28 days left.”

“I’m so ready, and I’m so excited,” she said.

Lakes senior Kyle Gallagher, who plans to study business administration and accounting at UW, said that the feeling of being almost done is kind of surreal.

“Freshman year, the beginning of everything,” he said, “and now, to have the people I started off with standing right here next to me … To think about how weird it is that next year, everything changes and starts over.

“The beginnings and the ends – it’s just one more step,” he said. “This is it.”

At the end of the ceremony, the families and educators who have helped the seniors were asked to stand for a moment of recognition.

“Behind every high-school graduate is the force of a parent,” Jacobs said.

LeBeau agreed, noting the vast array of schools and scholarships listed in the program

“It takes a lot of work to seek out and apply for those scholarships,” she said. “A lot of hard work has gone into that from the students, the families and the staffs.

“That’s a tremendous accomplishment.”