St. Francis High School Graduation Highlights

On Saturday, May 28,  welcomed 373 seniors into its alumni body after the 2011 graduation ceremony at the Flint Center in De Anza College in Cupertino.

Ceremony highlights included The Saint Andre' Award presented to Caroline Hansen seriously injured in a car accident in November 2010. Hansen spent several months in a coma but "actually walked across the stage to receive her diploma on Saturday," said SFHS Spokeswoman Holly Elkin. "It was truly amazing."

This year's SFHS senior class Valedictorian and student speaker was Roxanna Haghighat, a resident of San Jose. Class Salutatorian was Mandakini Mohindra of Milpitas. The student chosen Faculty Speaker is Bill Carder, a history teacher who will retire after many years of teaching at St. Francis.

According to Elkin, over 650 college scholarships, honors and awards earned by members of the class totaling more than $22 million. Here are other noteworthy accomplishments:

• 305 seniors graduating with honors
• 140 members of the National Honor Society
• 103 lifetime members of the California Scholarship Federation
• 46 seniors recognized by the National Merit Foundation
• Graduates will attend 115 different colleges and universities including 3 out of the country: Canada, Switzerland and Austria
• 43 students will compete in intercollegiate sports
• 23 signed NCAA Div 1 national letters of intent

Special Award 

• Saint Francis Man of the Year Award - George Saba
• Saint Francis Woman of the Year Award - Michelle Arra
• Robert J. Urban Memorial Award - Andrew Nguyen
• President’s Award - Kayla Emmerson
• Saint André of Montreal Award - Caroline Hansen

Congratulations to all!

(For description of awards, see .pdf in the image box of this article.)