Mission Prep, Nipomo high schools celebrate 240 grads from the Class of 2021
Spirits were high as two San Luis Obispo County high school celebrated the graduation of more than 240 students on Friday evening.
Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo and Nipomo High School honored the Class of 2021 in ceremonies slightly modified to adhere to state and local COVID-19 restrictions.
The ceremonies saluted not just the perseverance of the grads over the last year during the devastating pandemic, but also the culmination of the students throughout their education.
Here’s how the two school celebrated their grads, and a little about those students.
Nipomo High School’s class of 2021
Nipomo High School celebrated the accomplishments of 179 graduating seniors Friday in an in-person ceremony at the Nipomo campus.
“Our graduating seniors are mature beyond their years,” Principal John Denno said in a statement to The Tribune. “In each and every action, they express kindness, gratitude and compassion while maintaining a competitive spirit. This year may have challenged the balance of their character and strengths, yet it never deterred them from persevering. If anything, COVID has strengthened these assets and prepared them for prosperity in their future.”
The Class of 2021 had three valedictorians, all with GPAs above 4.4: Jaydon Martinez, Austin Boersma and Meia Schram.
Of the graduating students, 34 will be going on to study at four-year universities, including 10 who will be going to Cal Poly. Sixty-nine students will be going to community colleges including Cuesta College and Allan Hancock, and two students will be joining the military.
In total, the Class of 2021 earned $62,650 in scholarships, with the money going to 24 seniors.
Savanah Ruiz received the both the Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County’s $8,000 Garris Family Scholarship and the $4,000 Richard J. Weyhrich Leadership Award, while Angelica Gutierrez received the $2,000 Community Foundation ‘s Dorothy Good Trust for AVID Scholarship.
Meanwhile Rachaelann Todd swept art awards from the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, the Zach Elliott Memorial Scholarship and the Trilogy Art Group.
Mission Prep celebrated grads in a new way
Mission Prep’s graduates include 63 students who “persevered through this global pandemic and through four demanding years of an outstanding, Catholic, college preparatory experience,” said school Principal Mike Susank.
The school’s 79th commencement was held on the football field at the nearly 100-year-old Palm Street campus, in a ceremony featuring speeches and seating that reflected an essentially traditional Mission Prep graduation, albeit with masks and social distancing.
The valedictorians are Zachary Hatch and Peter Llaurado, both who earned 4.64 grade point averages. Hatch will go on to attend UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering and Llaurado will attend Columbia University.
Mission Prep’s salutatorian is Samantha Anderson, who earned a 4.61 GPA. She will attend Cal Poly’s College of Engineering.
Of the grads, 18 students will attend schools in the California State University system, including 11 heading to Cal Poly and four to San Diego State. Five students will attend schools in the University of California system, including two gaining admission to UC Berkeley.
Ten students will take advantage of the Cuesta Promise attending Cuesta College for two years of tuition-free education.
Eight students will attend Christian schools across the country including Gonzaga and Texas Christian University; other graduates will attend universities such as NYU, Wesleyan and University of Michigan, among others.
Two seniors will attend college as Division 1 scholarship athletes — Assani Berkeley, who will play football at San Jose State University, and Carlton Brown III, who will play football at University of Nevada, Reno.
The senior class recorded an average GPA of 3.65 with over 40% earning above a 4.0 cumulative GPA.
“The class, under the most difficult of circumstances, also served our SLO county community by contributing over five thousand hours of community service,” Susank said.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 9:45 PM.
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