Hillary Gaspar has not only maintained an incredibly high GPA across all classes, but has done so while taking the most challenging courses. In fact, she has taken seven Advanced Placement courses over the past three years. In each and every class, she has done more than simply complete the required coursework. Hillary asked questions, wondered, thought critically about and analyzed some of the most complex topics that a high school student can face. These courses cover massive amounts of content in a relatively short time, and require the student to complete large quantities of reading, solve complex problems, and constantly exercise their critical thinking skills. In spite of this extremely demanding course load, she never slowed down, never lost her fire for learning. Through hard work, determination and genuine intellectual curiosity, we know Hillary will continue to turn her dreams into reality at Santa Clara University.

Edwin Zhanay has consistently demonstrated incredible professionalism throughout his four year career at his CWSP placement, AgMotion, where he's processed well over $1M in invoices, adding significant value to the company's bottom line. Edwin has earned the respect of his colleagues, supervisor, and the CEO of the company, who know him by name. He goes the extra mile to complete work, including staying late to finish tasks, responding to emails on non-workdays and supporting fellow student workers by training and mentoring them over school breaks. Edwin incorporates what he's learned on the job to his personal and academic life, and we know he'll continue to exude the characteristics of an ideal professional on the campus of the University of St. Thomas.

Cristo Rey has been blessed by this senior class, who has produced several high-performing athletes and performers, but one stood out: Kya Phillips. Over the course of her athletic career, Kya has been the captain of and also chosen for a total of 10 all-conference awards in three different sports: volleyball, basketball and track. She graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball and, finally and definitively, she is the first state champion in our school's history... and she's done it twice in the 400m! She'll be headed to the University of Northern Iowa on a full athletic scholarship for Track this fall!

Alex Avalos joined the school's robotics team, Los Clásicos, as a shy, quiet freshman. Four years later, after hundreds (if not thousands) of hours building robots, lots of pizza on build days, some truly memorable trips to Menards, and many passionate debates about the merits of putting wood on a robot, Alex grew into a confident young man and leader of his peers. In May 2018, Los Clásicos made history by becoming the first team from Cristo Rey to qualify for a Minnesota State High School League state tournament, where they finished with a final rank of 21st in the state out of 214 teams. Alex was captain of that team, and we could not have done it without his leadership and hard work. He's excited to attend University of Minnesota Duluth in the fall.

"Thank you for making it possible for me to attend Cristo Rey! This year, I worked at US Bank as an intern for the Innovations team where I researched startup FinTechs and reached out to them to see if they would make a good impact with the company. I'm planning to go to college at the University of St. Thomas, where I'm interested in double majoring in Biology and French. My goal is to become a trauma surgeon."

 

-Ubah '19

All gifts will be matched through June 30, 2019!