Class shows ‘spirit’
By Daily Press staff
LOS ANGELES — They’re going to Disneyland!
Bedecked in caps and gowns — green for the boys, Notre Dame gold for the girls — the 132 members of the Class of 2006 for St. Monica Catholic High School eagerly collected their diplomas on Thursday night in a ceremony at Loyola Marymount University’s Gersten Pavilion.
This fall, the majority of the graduates — 77 girls and 55 boys — will head off to 39 area and state colleges and universities, including UCLA and Berkeley, and other schools across the country.
Following the post-graduation reception at Loyola, attended by parents, school staff and friends, the graduates filed onto buses for Grad Night in Anaheim for a night of free rides and music.
Mackenzie Weinger, 18, was honored as class valedictorian after compiling a 4.6 weighted grade point average. Weinger plans to attend the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she won a Regents Scholarship. David Lockwood, 18, was chosen as salutatorian for his academic integrity, faithfulness, leadership, spirit and individuality. Lockwood will attend Cal State at Long Beach.
Presiding over his first graduating class was Principal Thom Gasper, who singled out the “buoyant spirit” of the graduating class. “That helped me a lot, absolutely,” he said.
Gasper said St. Monica High School is already preparing for the 2006-07 year, with a higher indicated enrollment than in recent years.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 2, 2006. Read the original PDF.