Charles County Public Schools will honor 1,965 seniors June 1-3 during graduation ceremonies for seven high schools in the Convocation Center at North Point High School. Students in the Class of 2017 were offered nearly $79 million in scholarship offers, which is an increase of almost $13 million from last school year.
Valedictorians and salutatorians were announced earlier this week. These positions are determined by students’ grade-point averages and represent the top academic achievers at each high school.
Justin Cortez of La Plata is valedictorian of the La Plata High School Class of 2017. Sarah Gough of La Plata is the class salutatorian. Cortez will attend Stanford University and major in chemistry. Gough heads to Carnegie Mellon University in the fall and plans to study economics.
Valedictorian of Maurice J. McDonough High School’s Class of 2017 is Jack Browning of Port Tobacco. Leading the graduating class alongside Browning as salutatorian is Sarah Chen of La Plata. Browning will attend Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the fall and plans to study biology systems. Chen heads to Messiah College and will study nursing.
Leading the North Point High School Class of 2017 as valedictorian is Thach-Vu Nguyen of Waldorf. Sherry Chen of Waldorf is the class salutatorian. Nguyen will attend the University of Maryland College Park in the fall and plans to study biochemistry. Chen plans to study biology at Clemson University.
The valedictorian of the St. Charles High School Class of 2017 is Eden Lakner of Hughesville. Jekko Syquia of Waldorf is the class salutatorian. Lakner will attend the University of Maryland College Park and plans to study biological sciences. Syquia will attend The George Washington University to study fine arts and computer science.
Valedictorian of the Thomas Stone High School Class of 2017 is Calenna Cauley of Waldorf. Salutatorian is Luke Roberts of Waldorf. Cauley will attend Notre Dame of Maryland in the fall and plans to study mathematics and studio art. Roberts heads to the University of Maryland College Park and will major in accounting.
Westlake’s valedictorian for the Class of 2017 is Joseph Carter of Waldorf. Joining him in leading their class are co-salutatorians Charles Carter and Sequoia Mack, both of Waldorf. Both Joseph and Charles Carter will attend Brigham Young University to study mechanical engineering. Mack heads to the University of Maryland College Park and plans to study international relations and Spanish.
2017 graduation numbers by schools (scholarships will increase as offers are received)
Henry E. Lackey High School
- Total graduates: 239
- Scholarship offers: $18,222,218
La Plata High School
- Total graduates: 251
- Scholarship offers: $8,092,457
Maurice J. McDonough High School
- Total graduates: 183
- Scholarship offers: $5,382,235
North Point High School
- Total graduates: 440
- Scholarship offers: $21,332,385
St. Charles High School
- Total graduates: 285
- Scholarship offers: $9,028,423
Thomas Stone High School
- Total graduates: 296
- Scholarship offers: $9,291,272
Westlake High School
- Total graduates: 271
- Scholarship offers: $7,628,696
Charles County Public Schools Totals
- Total graduates: 1,965
- Scholarship offers: $78,977,686
A gallery of graduation photos is also posted on the website at http://www.ccboe.com/graduation2017.php. Visitors can download photos directly from the gallery.
