Outstanding High School Seniors Honored at VVHS

By AMY DAVIS

The Progress

Four years of high school experiences all came down to one night of recognition last week, for Virgin Valley High School seniors who went above and beyond.
The VVHS class of 2023 was honored on Tuesday evening, May 16 at a Senior Awards night.

“I am so excited to be here with our seniors tonight,” said Principal Mike Wilson at the beginning of the evening. “About half of these students, I knew when I was an elementary school principal, so it is special for me to see them graduate and move forward.”

He then awarded the Salutatorian as Nayeli Andrade and Valedictorians as Tyra Ludvigson and Angel Garcia.

Before announcing scholarships, a plethora of awards were presented. These included Advanced Diplomas, 3.7+ GPA recognition, College and Career Ready Diplomas, Advanced Placement Diplomas, Department Awards, Club and Staff Awards and Athletic Awards.

The Athlete of the Year Award for Male and Female Students were awarded to Stratton Waite and Riley Price.
“There are a lot of great kids who do so many great things,” said Amy Marshall, VVHS College and Career Specialist. “It isn’t always enough to have just a good GPA anymore. Scholarships donors are looking for volunteer hours, community involvement, service hours and leadership skills to name just a few.”

Marshall added that this year there were a lot more applicants than years past. “A lot of the donors had such a difficult time deciding who the recipients would be,” she said. “We even had a few donors who actually added scholarships because there were so many qualified applicants.”

Senior, Travis Terry, was awarded a scholarship from the American Legion Post #24, MCEF Scholarship, Mesquite Sunrise Rotary Scholarship, the M. DeLos Perkins Memorial Scholarship, Joe & Dixie Bowler Memorial scholarship, and the Southern Nevada Symphony Orchestra Scholarship.

“It was really nice to see all of my hard work pay off,” Terry said. “I’m forever grateful to all of the teachers, counselors and organizations that have encouraged and supported me and continue to do so.”

Another big scholarship winner of the night was Tyra Ludvigson. She was awarded The Progress Excellence in Journalism Scholarship, the Mesquite Elks Lodge #2811 Scholarship, $5000 from the MCEF, the Joe & Dixie Bowler Memorial scholarship, the Mesquite Police Officers Association (MPOA) – Academic & Future Community Involvement scholarship, the Mesquite Sunrise Rotary Scholarship, the Overton Power District #5 scholarship, the P.E.O. Star Scholarship, and the Virgin Valley Principal’s Achievement Scholarship.

“I am so thankful for all the amazing and generous community donors!” Ludvigson said. “It felt amazing getting recognized for all my hard work and long hours spent during high school. It was a great way to end my senior year and set me up for success in my higher education journey.”

As owner of The Progress Newspaper, Vernon Robison, awarded scholarships to three students who regularly contributed articles for publication paper.
“A lot of the scholarships received tonight require you to write an essay to be considered,” Robison said in the presentation. “But these kids basically wrote an essay for me almost every week all year.”
The three awards went to Tyra Ludvigson, Hector Ruiz and Paola Trujillo.

The Exchange Club of Mesquite presented a scholarship to Addie Hillius.

The Ace Hardware scholarships went to Sadie Cowley and Emma Houston. The Bill Lee Memorial scholarship was awarded to Myia Alejos

The American Legion Post #24 presented scholarships to Nayeli Andrade, Travis Terry and Hailey Vellinga.

As is tradition, the Joe & Dixie Bowler Memorial Scholarship awarded $500 to all graduating seniors that go on to a school of higher education.

The Houston Family awarded scholarships to Mathew Hughes, Yadira Muro and Lillee Rivas.
The Karen Fielding Scholarship went to Logan Cude
The Hafen Family Scholarship was presented to Dakota Hafen and Trey Hafen.
The Andrea Jensen Memorial Scholarship given by Dave and Colette Price was awarded to Brooklin Montoya and Sophie Tobler.
The Bruce King Memorial scholarship went to Nayeli Andrade.

The Mesa View Physical Therapy scholarship went to Marli Wakefield and Jared Jensen.
The Mesa View Home Care scholarship went to Talon Easton and Brooklin Montoya.
The Mesa View Hospice award went to Addie Hillius and Gabby Potter.

Scholarships from the Mesa View Regional Hospital went to Marian Leavitt, Ashlyn Shaner, Sophie Tobler and Camryn Totten. The Mesa View Medical Staff Executive Committee gave awards to Nayeli Andrade, Hailey Vellinga and Marli Wakefield.

In addition to the $5,000 awarded to Ludvigson, the Mesquite Community Education Foundation (MCEF) also awarded $2,500 to Evia Toone and Jonathan Pantelakis; $1,000 to Sadie Cowley, Kiera Davis, Oscar Diaz, Addie Hillius, Jaiden Paulsen, Brynne Tedford, Travis Terry, Camryn Totten, Paola Trujillo, Ashlyn Shaner and Stratton Waite.

The Mesquite Police Officers Association (MPOA) presented its Community Leadership School award to Nayeli Andrade.

Mesquite Sunrise Rotary Scholarship presented scholarships to Dantzel Park, Travis Terry, Paola Trujillo, Marli Wakefield, Jaelin Worthen and Tyra Ludvigson.

The Mesquite Western Poets Scholarship went to Ollin Guzman and Addie Hillius.
The Overton Power District scholarships were awarded to Neil Anderson, Angel Garcia, Tyra Ludvigson, Jonathan Pantelakis, Brynne Tedford, Sophie Tobler, Evia Toone and Hailey Vellinga
The P.E.O. Star Scholarship was presented to Tyra Ludvigson.
The M. Delos Perkins Memorial scholarship was presented to Myia Alejos, Sadie Cowley, Travis Terry and Arianne Gardner.
The Southern Nevada Symphony Orchestra scholarship was awarded to Travis Terry.
The Virgin Valley Artists’ Association presented awards sto Jaiden Paulsen and Oscar Diaz.
The Virgin Valley Theater Group awarded a scholarship to Nathan Juarez.
The Shelton & Sharon Wakefield Music/Arts Scholarship went to Arianne Gardner.
The Virgin Valley Schools Faculty and Staff scholarships went to Kacie Garrett, Kaylee Griffith, Hali Jackson and Zachary Trimming.

Finally, the Virgin Valley High School Principal’s Achievement Scholarship was awarded to Tyra Ludvigson.