Class of 2010 to walk stage Saturday

Approximately 69 students will walk across the newly refurbished stage in the Bigfork High School gymnasium to receive their diploma Saturday, June 5.

With the help of dozens of scholarships from schools and community donors, approximately 81 percent of those students will be heading on to pursue further education.

The final amount of scholarships for this class is still being totaled, but guidance counselor Christina Nadeau says numbers have been consistent and comparable to last year. The class of 2009 earned roughly $212,000 for students' freshman year of college and, if renewed over four years, just short of $600,000 total.

"We just do so well in dollars per student in comparison to other places," BHS Principal Matt Jensen said. "Its phenomenal."

More students seem to be attending two-year schools than four-year universities, Nadeau said. About half of those who will be at two-year schools plan to transfer to four-year schools later on, she said.

"It's very attractive economically to not have to pay room and board," Nadeau said.

As counselor, Nadeau said she spends time pouring over labor statistics so she can show students where the jobs are.

"I'm encouraging them to look at this time in our country as positive not negative and to be cognizant of changes and where there seems to be opportunities or niches," Nadeau said.

Community scholarships have been a big help for those wanting to continue their education, Nadeau said, and donors have upped their support for Bigfork's graduates this year with additional contributions for scholarships.

"In a year that's been one of the toughest economically, we've added four new scholarships. A couple in addition doubled their amount," Jensen said. "What a benefit to the students."

New scholarship donors include Bigfork Drug, Marina Cay and the Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce.

The class of 2009 used its extra funds at the end of the year to set up two scholarships for this year's class of $600 each. These join about 25 community scholarship donors and a total of 33 awards given for a total of $17,200.

"We're really thankful our community wants to support our kids' education post high school," Nadeau said.

Some of the top scholarship recipients overall have received more than $30,000 over four years.

One of the highest totals belongs to senior Alec MacCallum, who was awarded $117,000 over four years from the University of Puget Sound in Washington.

Kaitlyn Shults also will receive more than $70,000 over four years, but from Pacific Lutheran University in Washington.

Track and cross-country standout Kayla Carlson is Bigfork's lone athletic scholarship recipient. Carlson was awarded a Women's Track and Cross Country award of $8,000 per year to the University of Mary in North Dakota. Her total award from the university is $48,800 over four years.

Alex Neu, one of BHS' three valedictorians, was offered the Montana University System Honor Scholarship, which will waive his undergraduate tuition for up to eight semesters at any school in the system. He has chosen to attend Montana State University in Bozeman.

Ernie Cottle was the only national scholarship winner. Cottle was Montana's winner of the 2010 AXA Achievement Scholarship of $10,000 in association with U.S. News & World Report.

A full list of scholarship recipients will be run in an upcoming edition of the Bigfork Eagle.

An awards assembly for BHS will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 3.

The senior portion of the assembly will begin after a drama presentation at 11 a.m. Many of the community scholarships will be awarded at that time.

"We would really encourage the community to come join us and see the great things going on at Bigfork High School and the great things the kids have done," Nadeau said.

The assembly will be followed by a barbecue picnic in the foyer.

School administrators and officials acknowledge that this class will be hard to lose.

"They are an exceptionally tight group of kids," Jensen said. "They are a really neat class. It will probably be a class that continues to communicate with each other. They support each other."

Nadeau wishes her seniors well in their future endeavors.

"I hope that they create opportunities for themselves," Nadeau said. "I want them to find what brings them the most happiness."