VHS Class of ‘25 garners $1.25M in scholarship funds, covering 100 percent of year-one tuitions

This year’s class of Valley High School graduates has been awarded a record-set­ting monetary val­ue exceeding $1.25 Million in available Scholarship Funds earmarked for the furtherance of their various academic and career options. With every student awarded at least one scholar­ship, that’s an amaz­ing average of around $62,000 per each of the 20 graduates, 15 of whom will be attend­ing post-secondary programs. All of them will have 100 percent of their first year’s tuition paid for, while 86 percent of them received full-tuition scholarships for the duration of their pro­gram or degree. That status remains active awaiting the return of those called to their LDS Mission Field.

The Valley High School Class of 2025 posing during their Awards Banquet (up-to-down and left-to-right) are: Joshua Brenkus atop in shades. Boys: Waylon Spencer, Ethan Roundy, Jack Barnes, Boede Cox, Hadley Harris, Sebastian Pavlides, Jace Cox, Peter Lacey and Warren Spencer. Girls: Rachel Cox, Kaylee Brinkerhoff, Athelie Nielsen, Sheridyn Hoyt, Isabella Van Toor, Annabelle Leyland and, up front, Colt Reeve. Photo by Michelle Cox.

Up to date, this group has accrued a total of 325 college credits, av­eraging 16.25 per each member; as in the case of now former Student Body President Kay­lee Brinkerhoff who already achieved her AA degree! For those seeking additional financial assistance while submitting their records to multiple in­stitutions, it’s interest­ing to note 80 percent qualified for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, [see studentaid.gov], since the Utah aver­age of acceptance is 38 percent.

Ashley Chamber­lain, M.Ed., PsyD., in her dual role as School Counselor and School Psychologist since 2013, states, “At VHS we have a strong culture of post-secondary preparation for students who are both college and vo­cationally bound. The numbers this year are quite impressive and paint a picture of what really culminates into years of preparation and hard work on the part of parents, stu­dents, faculty and staff members.

“We can measure and quantify student suc­cess in so many ways and across so many domains, with scholar­ship monies just being one of them. I really attribute the success of these students to the wonderfully sup­portive, caring and cohesive staff at Val­ley High School, and strong support from highly engaged par­ents in the community and, of course, their own hard work and dedication over the last four years!”

Rightly proud of her students and their ac­complishments, along with gratitude for her part in the community that nurtures them, she continues her in-depth insight. “This is a process we work hard at our school to begin and work to­wards starting in the seventh-grade struc­tures and data-driven responses to student needs with evidence-based interventions so we can maximize every opportunity available to every student. At VHS, every student matters, and we really take that seriously. We do our best to make sure that no one slips through the cracks, and that students are offered the best prep­aration possible for the workforce, their relationships and post-secondary endeavors.”

Kaylee Brinkerhoff, fresh from her second-place Top Individual ranking by a single stroke, while leading her second-place Top Team to its finish in the State Golf Champion­ships, offers her own final remarks as past-president: “My fellow graduates of the Class of 2025 have worked extremely hard. We have received tons of scholarship money, and we are so grate­ful for those who have provided us with these opportunities, and all who have helped us along the way. It is amazing how much community support we have, not just from teachers and adminis­trators, but from the amazing people who are looking out for us, and living or have lived in our community. They are all wanting us to succeed, and we appreciate [them].”