The Saint Xavier Catholic School Class of 2014 walked down the isle of the Saint Francis Xavier Parish Sunday to receive their diplomas.

Alec Madrigal opened the ceremony with a welcome.

“Today you will witness the grand finale to an event that has stretched on for 12 years. Twelve years that have shaped and molded into who we are today,” Madrigal said.

This years class chose Barbara Meseke, Art and Theology Teacher at St. Xavier, as their guest speaker.

Meseke reflected back to when the class was freshman and she gave each student the opportunity to find, learn, and sing a song to her. Those that did received a congratulations note which she read.

“You have taken the first steps to success in anything that you want in life, the initiative to try. The fear of failure will never allow you to succeed, so with every opportunity you are given, go for it,” Meseke quoted.

This years Valedictorian was Kim Keating. In her speech Keating had a message for her eleven other classmates.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better class and I certainly couldn’t have found one that made me laugh so much and then grit my teeth in frustration, you know, within two minutes later,” Keating said. “It has been such an amazing journey and I am so glad that it was with you eleven that I get to finish it with.”

This years Salutatorian was Keon Jackson.

The Senior Class:

Joseph Balderrama, will be attending Benedictine College. He will be majoring in Evangelization and Catechesis with plans on then working for Catholic Relief Services as a missionary.

Seth Carpenter will be attending Sterling College and he will be majoring in Physical Therapy, and he will be participating on the Sterling College Cheerleading Squad.

Yeonggwang ‘Chris’ Choi will be attending the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago to pursue a degree in architecture.

Alex Daniels will be attending the Flint Hills Technical College in Emporia and he will be majoring in Computer Sciences.

Benedic Flores will be entering the Air Force in August, and his Basic Training will be in Lackland, Texas. He will then attend college to earn a degree in science and engineering.

Aaliyah Hutchinson will be attending Barton County Community College at Fort Riley with a major in Pre-Nursing.

Keon Jackson will be attending Kansas University and he will be majoring in Music Education. He will also be participating in the Kansas University Band.

Kim Keating will be attending Kansas University with a major in Nursing. With this degree, she then plans to become a missionary.

Ruklan ‘Luke’ Lee will be attending a college in Korea where he will be majoring in Business.

Alex Madrigal will be attending Kansas State University with a major in Pre-Dentistry.

JeongSu Park will be attending the University of Florida with a major in Pre-Dentistry, and then he hopes to become a dentist in a developing country.

Tony Reese will be attending Kansas Wesleyan in Salina and he hopes to be participating on the Kansas Wesleyan basketball team.

This years class has been involved in many activities and events ranging from scholars bowl, athletics and the state science fair competition.

Seventy five percent of the class graduated with a 3.5, or higher, grade point average.