Nearly 1,500 seniors graduate from Pueblo-area high schools

It's graduation season in Pueblo and hundreds of local high school kids turned the tassels on their graduation caps this past week while also turning a new page in the book of their young lives.

Here's a look at how many students graduated, as well as the top scholars at each school.

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

Pueblo West

Pueblo West High School once again had the largest senior class in Pueblo County with 282 graduates receiving diplomas at Pueblo West High School Stadium on Friday. Aspen Leng was this year's valedictorian and Aaron Amella was this year's salutatorian. Other graduates included Ivan Kozlov, an exchange student from Ukraine who will be attending Reed College in Oregon on a full-ride scholarship.

Pueblo County

Pueblo County High School graduated 212 Hornets on Saturday. David Velarde was recognized as County's valedictorian and Jenna Sharp was recognized as valedictorian of the School of Engineering and Biomedical Sciences. Salutatorians included Tristan Hobbs of Pueblo County High and Eric David of SEBS.

Pueblo East

Pueblo East High School gave diplomas to 212 graduates at the Southwest Motors Events Center on Friday. The graduating class was the largest of any in Pueblo School District 60 this year. Alana Duran and Serena Sharon were recognized as the school’s Top Scholars. Altogether, the 2023 class at East High School received nearly $3.5 million in scholarship offers.

Rye

A class of 48 seniors graduated from Rye High School on Thursday. Among them were Valedictorian Amelia Burbidge and Salutatorian Brianna Prichard. As noted by Prichard, the Class of 2023 at Rye was "like family." A quarter of the graduates had been classmates since 2010 — starting with kindergarten at Rye Elementary School, followed by Craver Middle School and later Rye High School.

Pueblo South

Pueblo South High School graduated 187 seniors at the Southwest Motors Events Center on Saturday. Alyssa Durning was recognized as the school’s Top Scholar. Jonah Harris, son of late U.S. Army Sgt. Blake Harris, was among those to graduate from South this year. Members of Sgt. Harris’ unit were among those in attendance to celebrate the accomplishments of Jonah and his South classmates.

Pueblo Central

Pueblo Central High School celebrated the graduation of 162 seniors at the Southwest Motors Events Center on Saturday. Kaden Parker was recognized as this year’s Top Scholar. More than $2.3 million in scholarships was awarded to Wildcats attending college. Many 2023 Wildcat graduates have plans to serve in the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy.

Pueblo Centennial

A class of 157 Pueblo Centennial High School Bulldogs embarked on their next adventure following a graduation ceremony on Friday at the Southwest Motors Events Center. Pedro Arrieta was recognized as the Top Scholar of the class. Members of the 2023 Bulldog class will be attending colleges as close by as Colorado State University Pueblo and as far away as the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Pueblo online schools

Pueblo’s two online high schools graduated a total of 172 students in 2023. Dutch Clark Digital Online at Paragon graduated 125 students and D70 Alternative Learning Academy graduated 47. Student speakers included Gabe Duran and Rob Sefcovic of D70 Alternative Learning Academy along with Leiorne Caldwell and Andres Rubio of Paragon. Last year, the two online schools graduated a combined 152 students.

Pueblo charter schools

Pueblo's two charter high schools, Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School and Swallows Charter Academy, held their graduation ceremonies on Friday, May 19.

DHPH graduated 42 seniors during its ceremony at Memorial Hall. All received college credit, 11 graduated with associate degrees from Pueblo Community College and six received paraprofessional certificates from University of Colorado Denver. Scorpion graduates Samuel Van Hull and Vashti Trujillo served as student speakers.

Swallows Charter Academy graduated 22 seniors during its graduation ceremony at Colorado State University Pueblo. The 2023 Spartan class was small, but high achieving. Its students earned a combined 716 credits from Pueblo Community College and 518 credits from Colorado State University Pueblo. Jojo Essenburg received the 2023 Spartan of the Year Award.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Nearly 1,500 students graduate from Pueblo-area high schools