CHS celebrates seniors at Signing Day event

<span>hester High School held its second annual College Signing Day on Wednesday in Juergen's Gymnasium during homeroom, with the entire student body, faculty and parents in attendance.</span>

<span>CHS started College Signing Day last year as a way of focusing on celebrating all seniors that have committed to continuing their education beyond high school. </span>

<span>"A lot of attention is focused on promising athletes when they select the college of their choice and that is well deserved," said CHS Counselor Franciene Sabens. "We want every CHS student to receive just as much attention and have the same feeling of importance so they too can feel special about the biggest decisions they will ever make."</span>

<span>Sabens noted that 65 of the school's 73-member Class of 2016 was being recognized for either going to college, enlisting in the armed forces, attending a trade school or enrolling in an apprenticeship program.</span>

<span>Each student made his or her way to the center of the gymnasium where he or she committed and physically signed a statement of intent to "Reach Higher" and pursue training and/or education beyond Chester High School.</span>

<span>"Each of us has a fire lit in our heart for something," said CHS Principal Dr. Sarah Gass. "It's our goal in life to find it and keep it lit."</span>

<span>Gass then challenged underclassmen to observe the commitments that the seniors were making, and encouraged them to begin to find the fires within their hearts and to use their flames to focus upon their goals in spite of potential obstacles and challenges.</span>

<span>The "Reach Higher" initiative was started last year by First Lady Michelle Obama.</span>

<span>"We are very proud and happy to be utilizing the 'Reach Higher' theme to encourage our students to pursue post-secondary education," Sabens said.</span>

<span>The recognition ceremony began with a group of three students - Blake Eggemeyer, Olivia Moore and Devon Tudor - who have enlisted in the Army National Guard.</span>

<span>The remaining seven groups of students to be celebrated will be enrolling in apprenticeship programs, college or trade schools in the fall.</span>

<span>The following ten seniors will be attending Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) for General Studies - Jesse Bagley, Courtney Dobbs, Wesley Fields, Joshua Fortman, Jason Heberlie, Braden Little, Sara McKinney, Melissa Myers, Stephanie Roth and Alexzandrea Westbrook.</span>

<span>The next group of 11 seniors will attend various colleges and programs for continuing education - Klayton Owens, Local #459 Construction Craft Laborer Apprenticeship Program; Logan Horman, Aurora University for mathematics; Allaynah Price, University of Evansville for Music Therapy; Jenna Wahl, Fontbonne University for Biology; Elizabeth Heffernan, University of Illinois for Business; and Tyler Redeker, Elmhurst College for Interactive Media and Game design.</span>

<span>This list continues with Jaclyn Colvis, University of Missouri for Nutrition; Austin Welge, University of Mississippi for Agriculture; Demonyia Lewis, Blackburn College for Computer Science; Christian Gray, Morthland College for Nursing and Lucas Doiron, Missouri University of Science & Technology for Engineering.</span>

<span>The next group of seniors will attend SWIC for various educational pursuits: Alyse Bollman for Secondary Education; Chelsie Miller for Education; Haley Weaver for Liberal Arts; Jennifer Copple for Culinary Arts; Ethan Gendron and Aaron Sorrels for Administration of Justice; Joseph Schneier for Aviation and Ray Zepeda for Computer Science.</span>

<span>Another nine seniors will also attend SWIC to begin their pursuits of numerous degrees including Elizabeth Grunewald for Veterinary Science; Kristian Thompson for Radiologic Technology; Alexis Doolin for Nursing; Emily Eggemeyer for Nursing; Alexandra Phillips for Nursing; Anastasia Valleroy for Nursing; Zackary Conner for Welding; Hunter House for Welding; and Christian Mitchell for Electronic Technology.</span>

<span>Noah Franklin and Lucas Rock will attend Murray State. Franklin will pursue Chemistry, while Rock will pursue Criminal Justice. Amber Carnahan, Whitney Gibbs, Sarah Hecht and Alyssa Hoops will attend Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) for Nursing. Miranda Mueller will attend SEMO for Psychology and Katelyn Rader will attend SEMO for Pre-Veterinary Medicine and Agribusiness.</span>

<span>Anna Cole (Behavioral Science), Jason Schwartz (Computer Programming) and Stormie Zweigart (Cosmetology) will attend John A. Logan College.</span>

<span>Cassidy Barnes (Business Administration), Garret Hoffman (Criminal Justice) and Luke Hartman (Business Administration) will attend Lindenwood University at Belleville.</span>

<span>Austin Carpenter (General Studies) and Emily Stueve (Nursing) will attend Rend Lake College.</span>

<span>The final eight seniors will attend Southern Illinois University. Darric Westerman (Biology) will study at the Edwardsville campus.</span>

<span>The other seven seniors will attend the Carbondale Campus. Jordan Berner (General Studies), Cody Brant (Business), Walker Clements (General Studies), Nickolas Hildebrandt (Wildlife Management), Austin Runge (Journalism) and Brookelyn Wahl (Social Work) will become Salukis.</span>