After earning an outstanding $4.4 million in merit scholarships, 21 seniors received their diplomas on May 15 from All Saints Episcopal School in a Commencement exercise in the school’s Patriot Gym. The Class Valedictorians and Salutatorian were honored during the graduation ceremony.

The Class of 2022 Valedictorian and Salutatorian announcement took an unusual, but an exciting twist. Counselor Gwen Belk explained that two seniors earned exactly the same final GPA of 4.889 after attending All Saints High School for all four years. She announced Reese Morgan Rogers and Hope Ashby Whitaker as the 2022 Valedictorians. She also announced Mia Danielle Garza earned the next highest GPA with 4.849 and is the 2022 Salutatorian.

The 21 members of the Class of 2022 have proven to be exceptional.  The majority of the class earned acceptance into their first-choice college and they earned $4,345,312 million in merit scholarships. In addition, one student was named a College Board National Merit Hispanic Scholar (Mia Garza) while another student was named the 2022 YWCA Youth Leadership Award Recipient (Ashby Whitaker) and another senior was awarded the DAR Good Citizenship Award (Spencer Michael Johnson).

The student led Commencement was emceed by 2022-2023 Student Body President Campbell Elise Howe. Senior Larry Kalvy Thompson II offered the invocation. The commencement address was presented by two different senior speakers. GraceAnn Jane Phelps Streit presented her speech “Lessons from the Pack” followed by Ashby Whitaker’s speech “The Good in a Goodbye.” Faculty member Pamela Kay Ryan was selected by the Class of 2022 as the Guest Speaker. She spoke on “Discerning What to Keep and What to Leave Behind.” Head of School Robert Brashear and Board of Trustees Chairman Zane Mead presented the diplomas to the 22 seniors. Board Secretary Krista Bumstead presented each graduate with a Bible.

Valedictorian Reese Morgan Rogers received one of the school’s highest honors on Friday when she was named a Senior Proven Patriot, which is an award selected by the high school faculty for students exemplifying the All Saints traditions of academic achievement, extracurricular participation, community service and leadership. Rogers is a member of the Varsity Basketball, Varsity Track, and Varsity Volleyball teams and has earned state honors in each sport. This year she won her second consecutive TAPPS 2A State Championship in Long Jump as well as being a member of the State Volleyball Championship team. It is worth noting that because of her tremendous academic and athletic achievements, 22 universities to which Rogers had not applied contacted her to offer her enrollment and scholarships. Rogers has been a member of the Varsity Mock Trial team for four years and has competed in the Regional Mock Trial Competition all four years and earned awards for both Best Witness and Best Attorney numerous times during the contests. She is a member of the National Honor Society and has attended All Saints since enrolling in the three-year-old preschool program. Her parents are Stephanie and Kirk Rogers. She will attend Texas Tech University Honors College and major in Biology.

Valedictorian Ashby Hope Whitaker also received the school’s highest honor on Friday when she was named a Senior Proven Patriot. She was also named a Proven Patriot her sophomore year. Her accomplishments are vast whether they are academic or athletic in nature, she has been successful at everything she has attempted. This spring the Lubbock YWCA awarded her with their 2022 Women of Excellence Youth Leadership Award. Whitaker is a member of the State Championship Debate and Speech Team, State Championship Varsity Tennis Team, State Academic Championship Team, Vice President of the National Honor Society, State Championship Field Band, Varsity Band, and Jazz Band, as well as a senior member of the All Saints Honor Council. She has attended All Saints since the fifth grade when her family moved to Lubbock. Whitaker’s parents are Dana and Jeff Whitaker. She will join her brother, Sebastian (Class of 2021), next fall when she begins college at the University of Notre Dame du Lac and majors in International Relations.

Salutatorian Mia Garza received the school’s highest honor on Friday when she was named by the high school faculty as the 2022 Woman of Character, which epitomizes a character of integrity, maturity, compassion, joy, purposefulness, and commitment. College Board recognized Garza last fall as a National Hispanic Scholar. Garza began her tenure at All Saints as a four-year-old Pre-Kindergarten student and has excelled in academics, athletics, and fine arts since her first day. She is a member of the 2022 TAPPS 2A State Academic Championship Team. She began playing the cello as a nine-year-old student in the school’s Beginning Orchestra and has continued in the High School Orchestra now as the Principal Cello and Novice Double Bass player. Garza has played in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All Region Orchestra and Texas Private School Music Educators Association (TPSMEA) All Region Orchestra and has earned Superior Ratings in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) State Solo and Ensemble contests. She is a gifted graphic artist as well as a talented musician. Garza was named the TAPPS 2A State Champion in Digital Art in 2021 and earned TAPPS State sixth place this year for her digital graphic. She is a member National Honor Society and also serves on the school’s Honor Council. Garza has played on the Girls Varsity Basketball team all four years. Her parents are Lily and Ricardo Garza. She will attend Lubbock Christian University Honors College next fall and major in Criminal Justice.

The Class of 2022 was accepted into 53 universities and earned $4.4 million in merit scholarships. Those schools are: Auburn University, Austin College, Baylor University, Bellarmine University, Clemson University, Colorado School of Mines, Denver University, Georgetown University, Hendrix College, Louisiana State University, Lubbock Christian University, Millsaps College, Mississippi State University, Oklahoma State University, Pepperdine University, Seton Hall, Sewanee: The University of the South, South Plains College, Southern Methodist University, Southwestern University, St. Edwards University, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, The University of Oklahoma, The University of Pittsburgh, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas at Dallas, The University of Texas at El Paso, The University of Tulsa, The University of Utah, The University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Arkansas, The University of Colorado at Boulder,  The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, The University of Colorado at Denver, University of Denver, the University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Jamestown, University of Mary Hardin Baylor, The University of Massachusetts at Boston, The University of Mississippi, University of New Mexico, University of Notre Dame du Lac, University of the Incarnate Word, Wayland Baptist University, and West Texas A&M University.

Eight students are leaving Texas to attend school: The University of Notre Dam du Lac in Notre Dame, Indiana; Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas; The University of Denver in Denver, Colorado; the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado; The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee; The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah; and Clemson University School of Nursing in Clemson, South Carolina.

Four students will attend school somewhere in Texas other than Lubbock: one at The University of Texas at Dallas; one at Texas Christian University Honors College; and two at Baylor University.

The remaining nine students have decided to remain in Lubbock to attend Texas Tech University with four of the seven also enrolling in Tech’s Honor College. One student will also stay in Lubbock and attend Lubbock Christian University Honors College while another student has decided to remain local and attend South Plains College.