A crowd of family and friends packed the Harry M. Ward Auditorium on Saturday morning to celebrate 59 young men and women as they received their diplomas from Mathews High School at the school’s 86th commencement.

“We’re celebrating the achievements we’ve made. We’re celebrating growing up. We’re celebrating our upcoming future,” senior class president Suki Zheng said as she welcomed those in attendance.

“As we move on, life is going to get hard. I mean, when is it ever going to get easy?” she asked. “As you take on this new chapter of your life, make sure to take care of yourself,” Zheng advised her fellow graduates. Zheng ended her comments by announcing that this year’s senior class gift will be outdoor furniture for the courtyard by the school’s gym for students and staff to enjoy.

“This accomplishment doesn’t just belong to me,” salutatorian Kat Murphy said as she began her address. “It belongs to every graduate sitting in front of me who has worked endlessly for the past four years.” Along the way, as she and her fellow graduates made their way from kindergarten to graduating seniors, “we created a community of support for each other.”

This moment, she said, also belongs to the faculty. “Teachers, administrators and staff members, we wouldn’t be here where we are without you and all of your hard work,” she said.

Murphy spoke of the support of family that she and her fellow graduates have received to get them where they are today. “Your love and support has never gone unnoticed,” she said. She singled out that of her parents: “In everything I do I strive to have your love, grace and patience that you have always showed to me and everyone else.”

“I know you will do great things,” she told her fellow graduates. “I am so proud of you … You did it!”

“I never thought this day would arrive,” valedictorian Jaxson McDonald told the assembled graduates and guests. “It feels like just yesterday I stepped in the halls of Mathews High School in the midst of COVID-19, full of excitement and nerves. Since then, we’ve survived a freshman year that felt like a twilight version of high school. Sophomore year, we lost our football team and found increasingly challenging classes. Junior year was our academic gauntlet, with classes that our freshman selves would have run from on sight. And senior year was a blur of college applications, late nights, running from squirt guns and torrid senioritis.”

“Through all the chaos, the classes and the quiet moments, one thing has never changed … The people who believed in me,” McDonald said. He singled out everyone from his parents, friends, family, teachers and delivered a short message in Spanish, which he translated: “Thank you my nanny for being my best friend for the first nine years of my life.”

Everyone has those people in their lives that got them to this point. “As your last high school assignment, thank them,” he said.

If you remember nothing else,” he said, remember this: “You only live once. Make it count. Congratulations to the Class of 2025. We did it!”

Awards

Following the salutatorian address, and a musical performance by the MHS band, the following senior awards were presented:

DAR Good Citizen Award: Suki Zheng.

English Award: Riley Tripp.

Journalism Award: Shane Norris and Jerrell Johnson.

The Leland B Machen Excellence in Mathematics Award: Kristin Blake.

CTE completers in Family and Consumer Sciences: Liberti Carter, Lindsay Coons, Carrie Hudgins and Alex Waters.

In Welding: Bradley Batts, Lorena Carballo, Mathew Cater, Alivia Garrett, Gavin Jarvis, Scarlet Johnson, Justin Jones, Hayden Marshall, Travis O’Leary, Mikey Ray, Bradyn Richardson, Zeke Sawyer and Keith Taylor.

In Engineering: Jaxon McDonald and Sean Wolfe.

In Nursing: Jacklynn Ottarson, Hernan Jimenez and Emma Revell.

The Early College Scholars Program: Kristen Blake, Vic DeForge, Hailey Denkinger, Grayson Griffith, Marissa Hudgins, Jaxon McDonald, Katherine Murphy, Shane Norris, Jacklynn Ottarson, Kaylee Russell, John Stephen Shaw, Angel Shultz, Hannah Stillwaggon, Aundrea Wells and Suki Zheng.

The MHS Band John Phillip Sousa Award: Riley Tripp.

Female Athlete of the Year Award: Lorena Carballo.

Male Athlete of the Year Award: Donovan Forrest.

The final award of the program, presented by MHS principal Dr. Drew Greve, was the General Excellence Award. This award, he said, is the highest honor given at MHS. “This award is given to the senior who exemplifies all of the following criteria: High academics, extracurricular involvement, leadership, citizenship and a cooperative attitude,” he said, in presenting the award to Grayson Griffith.

Scholarships

MHS recognized 49 local scholarships representing 47 different organizations and individuals associated with Mathews County, totaling $76,700. The students also earned various other scholarships totaling over $521,750. MHS director of counseling Katelyn Dodge presented the scholarships, along with school counselor Shannon Duff. Recipients were:
Seth James—Bill Hudgins Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship, $500.

Suki Zheng—Moss Henderson Scholarship, $2,000; DAR Ruth Smit Scholarship, $1,000; Mathews Chapter of the Continental Societies Scholarship, $1,000; Mathews Rotary Scholarship, $2,000: Claude V. Simmons Scholarship, $6,600; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $3,000; Central Village Homemakers Scholarship, $1,000; Betty and Jim Kenley Scholarship (through the Mathews Democratic Party), $1,000; Piankatank Ruritan Club Scholarship, $1,500; Virginia Owens Scholarship, $1,000; Suzy Jones Memorial Scholarship (through the PEO Chapter BT), $500; Lions Club Scholarship, $1,000.

Victor DeForge—Georgienne B. Laws Scholarship, $1,000; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $2,000; Betty and Jim Kenley Scholarship, $500; Beblon G. Parks Scholarship, $1,000; Presidents Leadership Program Scholarship, $4,000 (payable $1,000 annually).

Baylee Bell—MHS Class of 1967 Scholarship, $500.

Hannah Stillwaggon—Servetus Scholarship (given by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Rappahannock), $4,000; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $2,000; Mathews Woman’s Club Scholarship, $1,000.

Shaleigh Conrow—Betty and Jim Kenley Scholarship, $500; Lynchburg Excellence Scholarship (given through the University of Lynchburg), $7,850; Hopwood Scholarship (through the University of Lynchburg), $96,000 (payable $24,000/year for four years).

Riley Tripp—John H. and Annie C. Miles Scholarship, $6,000 (payable $1,500/year for four years); Virginia Sheriff’s Institute Scholarship, $1,000; Old Dominion University Presidential Scholarship, $28,000 (payable $7,600/year for four years).

Lorena Carballo—State of Virginia PEO Scholarship (through PEO Chapter BW, Gloucester), $1,500; Leslie and Loretta Hinton Educational Scholarship (through RCC), $3,000.

Shayla Kekoa—James R. Lewis Scholarship, $250.

Katherine Murphy—PEO Chapter CA Scholarship, $500; Gwynn’s Island and Civic League Scholarship, $1,000; Central Village Homemakers Scholarship, $1,000; Richard Sadler Memorial Scholarship (through the Mathews Insurance Agency), $1,000; Lions Club Scholarship, $1,000; Alvin Knight Memorial Scholarship, $1,500; Thomas and Lolita Gayle Scholarship, $14,000 (payable $5,000 for the first year, and $3,000 for the next three years).

Grayson Griffith—Elizabeth H. Hudgins Memorial Scholarship (given by the American Legion), $500; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $2,000; Lauren Owens Scholarship (given through the Mathews Insurance Agency), $1,000; Piankatank Ruritan Club Scholarship, $1,000; Captain Orrell Scholarship, $1,000; Thomas and Lolita Gayle Scholarship, $14,000 (payable $5,000 for the first year, and $3,000 for the next three years); Virginia Tech Scholarship, $4,800; James Copeland Scholarship, $3,000; she is also receiving $96,000, payable $24,000/year for four years through the Army National Guard.

Jerrell Johnson—Harry and Margaret Ward Scholarship, $750; Mathews Chapter of the Continental Societies Scholarship, $500; Kingston Parish Scholarship, $1,000; Scholars Award from Virginia Commonwealth University, $2,000.

Layla McBurney—Provost Scholarship from Longwood University, $28,000 (payable $7,000/year for four years).

Lindsay Coons—Bill Hudgins Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship, $500.

Hailey Denkinger—EFI General Endowment Scholarship, $1,000.

Marissa Hudgins—Kingston Parish Scholarship, $2,000; Central Village Homemakers Scholarship, $1,500; Lynne Rowe Memorial Scholarship, $200; the Randolph Macon College Grant, $25,600 ($6,400/year for four years); The RMC Alumni Legacy Scholarship, $6,000 ($1,500/year for four years); Randolph Macon College Trustees Scholarship, $128,000 ($32,000/year for four years).

Angel Shultz—Mathews Chapter of the Continental Societies Scholarship (offered through Rappahannock Community College), $200; William F. and Catherine K. Owens Foundation Scholarship, $1,000.