CNN news 2010-06-08
And that's what you seniors all across the U.S. are doing right now, putting on your mortar boards and graduation gowns as you get your diplomas. Finishing high school, as you know, doesn't automatically mean going on to college... unless you go to Arrupe Jesuit High in Denver, Colorado. Nelson Garcia of affiliate KUSA fills us in on the school's graduation streak. The sounds are the same, and so are the excited faces. But the graduation here at Arrupe Jesuit High School is like no other. This is the fourth year in a row every single senior is going to college. Sixty percent of you all are the first in your families to graduate high school. And it changes the history of our family, and it creates a whole different way of seeing the future. Jose Madrid. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. He is valedictorian and one of 54 students who spent one day a week working in a corporation, earning money to pay for Arrupe while getting business experience. School founder Father Steve Planning says that this is at the heart of Arrupe's success. They get to see, feel and touch the future that we want them to have. Though Arrupe services low-income neighborhoods, with obstacles that challenge every inner city school. The 54 of you have earned together a combined total of more than 3.85 million dollars in merit-based scholarships. That averages to more than 70,000 dollars in scholarship money per student. There was no opportunity for me to fail because so many people believed in me that I had to believe in myself. Abeline Angeles, Colorado State University. The sounds may be the same. Jose Eduardo Madrid, Georgetown University. But this graduation is like no other. It's the last ceremony for Father Planning. He's leaving. It's always sad to leave anywhere, but it's particularly sad to leave a place that you were involved in the start up of, so it's gonna be sad to say goodbye. Leaving behind a thriving program which continues to make a difference in northwest Denver.