Academic & Service Awards 2023-24

Each academic department is asked to identify those students who have excelled in that particular field of study. Criteria for individual and department awards are determined by the department chairs in consultation with the faculty members of each discipline.

See the list of recipients below.

Fine & Performing Arts
National School Choral Award David Severns
Rockhurst Choral Spirit Award Liam Lake
Ignatian Pastoral Music Award Jack Manning & Soren Ursick
John Phillip Sousa Band Award Matthew Tafoya
Rockhurst Theatre Award Trevor Murphy
Rockhurst Dramatics Arts Award Lincoln Bunch
Theatre Tech Award Aldric Yang
Visual Arts Award Henry Bosco
Ceramic Arts Award David Bernal & Michael DePalma


Communication Arts
Broadcasting Liam Daly
Photography Brady Batz, Tommy Bowen, & Brennan Harris
Graphic Arts Luke McNamara
Public Speaking Ben Olschki
Movie Making Henry Yagmin
Entrepreneurship Luke Imlay & Drew McGalliard
Newspaper I Sam LaSala
Newspaper II Mitch Forbes
The Michael and Ilene Drape Journalism Award Mitch Forbes


Computer Science, Robotics, and Engineering
Object-Oriented Programming Lukus Lamming
AP Computer Science Principles Bill Hayes
AP Computer Science A Aldric Yang
Robotic Engineering II Eli Manis
John McEniry Innovation Award Brant Willis
Bernie Kreikemeier and Buddy Worth Award Ian Morgan


English
English I Robbie St. Peter
Advanced English I Tyson Nguyen & Michael McTavish
Advanced English II Shiv Patel, Cooper Clifft, & Joshua Hunt 
English III Gavin Scott-Hying, Landon Lobaugh, Nolan Roeder, & Braden Vendergriff
AP English III Jack Brackett
English IV Andrew Meyer & Cielo Tschantret
AP English IV Andrew Puthumana
Creative Writing Hunter Smith 


Mathematics
Algebra I Jude Gates
Advanced Algebra I Declan Griggs
Geometry/Algebra II Henry Walker
Intermediate Algebra  Luke Moore
Intro to College Algebra Michael Leardi
Advanced Geometry/Algebra II Carson Lucido
Algebra II/Trig Elijah Wilson
Honors Precalculus  Shiv Patel & Bill Hayes
Precalculus Sam Ismert
Honors Precalculus Daniel Colombo
AP Calculus AB Thomas Coppinger
AP Calculus BC Shiv Patel
Multivariable Calculus Eli Manis
AP Statistics Andrew Puthumana


Modern and Classical Languages
Mandarin Chinese I John Kierspel & Declan Sullivan
Mandarin Chinese II Will Hunter
Honors Mandarin Chinese III Sam Reintjes & Aldric Yang
Honors Mandarin Chinese IV Teddy Brewster
French I AJ Simon & Ronan Ball
French II Landon Christopher & Eli Short
Honors French III CJ Anderson
AP French IV Sawyer Cook
Ethan Schaefer Honors French V
Honors Greek I Nick Haake
Latin I Jack Neely
Latin II Antonio McGill
Honors Latin III Ben Molen
AP Latin IV Owen Vontz
Spanish I Joshua Barney
Advanced Spanish I Tyson Nguyen
Spanish II Luke Strueby & Skyler Tyson
Advanced Spanish II Cooper Clifft & Declan Griggs
Spanish III Dominic DeWees & Wyatt Hemphill
Honors Spanish III Brady Batz & Knox Nail
Spanish IV William Rebman
Honors Spanish IV Charlie Gormsen
AP Spanish IV Andrew Puthumana


Physical Education
Freshman Jaden Johnson
Sophomore Logan Smith
Junior Kevin McConville
Senior Jacob Hoolehan


Science
Astronomy Logan Cook
Biology Leo Claxton
Honors Biology Jack Neely
AP Biology Daniel Colombo & Shiv Patel
Concepts of Chemistry Henry Coppinger
AP Environmental Science Thomas Coppinger
Honors Chemistry Shiv Patel
College Chemistry Cooper Clifft & Daniel Colombo
AP Chemistry Sam Reintjes
Geology Caleb Dawson
Human Physiology Caleb Bridges
Meteorology Brant Willis
Physics Zack Thompson
Honors Physics Bill Hayes
AP Physics Dennis Colombo


Social Studies
Ancient Civilizations Tyson Nguyen
Modern World History Xavier Ritchie
AP Modern World History Shiv Patel & Cooper Clifft
The Dr. Jerry Goben U.S. History Award Aldric Yang
AP U.S. History Brady Batz
U.S. Government Cielo Tschantret & Peter Gunter
Honors U.S. Government Nate Nail
AP U.S. Government Andrew Puthumana
AP Comparative Government & Politics Logan Cook
Business Law Sam Oliver
Economics Thomas Coppinger
Kansas City History Max Morris & Adam Poe
Psychology Liam Ver Meer
Latin American Studies Christopher Womack


Theology
Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J., Award Tyson Nguyen
Reverend Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Award Daniel Colombo
Servant of God Matteo Ricci, S.J., Award Zion Collins
Saint Óscar Romero, Bishop and Martyr, Award     Andrew Puthumana

Advanced Placement Scholars - Class of 2024

Graham Adamson Fredrik Andersson Landon Brewer
Ryan Fanning Charlie Gormsen Trey Gunnoe
Cole Hierholzer John Houlehan Luke Imlay
Tracey Jarvis Elliott Korentager Jagger McCarroll
John McFadden Trevor Murphy Nathan Nail
Elijah Rourke Ethan Schaefer Liam Ver Meer
Max Zitariuk


Advanced Placement Scholars with Honor - Class of 2024

Angel Becerra Logan Cook Owen Cooper
Daniel Hiles Aidan Latz Elias Manis
Reid Moshier Cielo Tschantret


Advanced Placement Scholars with Distinction - Class of 2024

Sawyer Cook Joseph Hudak Drew McGalliard
Ian Morgan Andrew Puthumana Brant Willis


National Merit Commended Students

Adrian Palan Mark Robel David Severns
Liam Ver Meer Owen Vontz


National Merit Semifinalists & Finalists

Caleb Dawson Joe Hudak Eli Manis
Ian Morgan Trevor Murphy Andrew Puthumana
Cole Southard Cielo Tschantret Brant Willis


Book Awards

Jack Brackett Caleb Bridges Landon Lobaugh
Owen Lundstrom Peter Mandacina Knox Nail
Brendan Ortbals Sam Reintjes Aldric Yang


R Awards

Nominated by faculty, staff, and administration, and conferred by the Awards Selection Committee, this award is given to students of all grades who exemplify generosity of spirit and the willingness to put in extra time and effort—far beyond expectations—to help create and support the RHS community.

Seniors
Angel Becerra Logan Cook Sawyer Cook Owen Cooper
Thomas Coppinger Caleb Dawson Gio DePalma Diego Garcia
George Guerra Brennan Harris Daniel Hiles Luke Imlay
Colin Komenda Adam Kopulos Anthony LaSala Jagger McCarroll
Drew McGalliard Trevor Murphy Johnathan Nash Rylan Nowak
Aiden O'Donnell Adam Poe Andrew Puthumana Eli Rourke
David Severns Tommy Sonnenberg Ben Stringer Liam Ver Meer
Shea Walsh Jake Wier Brant Willis

Juniors
CJ Anderson Murray Archer Henry Bosco
Jack Brackett Joe Browne Jabari Cambridge
Nic Cipolla Jack Creger William Draper
John Giocondo Ben Grilliot Bill Hayes
Noah Heinen Jack Huber Maddox Hughes
Jeb Koetting Sam Komenda Luke Kuechler
Owen Lundstrom Peter Mandacina Jack Manning
Knox Nail Owen Nielsen Oliver Priestland
Elmer Puga Sam Reintjes Anthony Totta
Owen Walsh Brayden Worstell Aldric Yang

Sophomores
Xavier Aleman Henry Coppinger
Robby Evangelidis Landon Christopher
Lukus Lamming Alex Manis
Zach Novotny Brendan Ortbals
Shiv Patel Flavio Rubio Espinosa

Freshmen
George Atkinson Brian Gillchrist
Tyson Nguyen Peter Nickson
Ben Olschki Warren Robertson

Fr. Pedro Arrupe Award

Freshman Jack Bosco
Sophomore Xavier Aleman
Junior Danny Hodes
Seniors Rory Browne McClain, Diego Garcia, & Trevor Murphy

The Jesuit Schools Network Award

The Jesuit Schools Network (or JSN) annually recognizes a member of the graduating class in each of the 60 Jesuit Secondary member schools in the United States and Central America. Nominations for this award are solicited from the faculty, and the Graduation Awards Committee confers the faculty recommendation. The JSN Award is presented to a deserving senior who best represents the ideals of the graduate of a Jesuit High School at the time of graduation. The recipient of the award shall be a young man who is generous with his talents, dedicated to the Gospel message, and devoted to the Christian ideals as enunciated by the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius Loyola.

The Class of 2024 recipient: Andrew J. Puthumana

The Carl G. Kloster, S.J., “Special R” Award

The Carl G. Kloster, S.J. Award was originally known as the “Special R Award”. It was renamed in 1975 to honor Rev. Carl G. Kloster, S.J. who served as principal of Rockhurst High School from 1954 to 1972. Father Kloster also served as president from 1968 until 1975.  The Kloster Award recipient is nominated by the faculty and confirmed by the Graduation Awards Committee and is given to a member of the senior class who is also an “R Award” winner.  The Kloster Award is conferred upon a graduating senior who embodies the spirit and tradition of Rockhurst High school and is a young man who consistently puts the welfare of his fellow students above his own interests. This award honors a student who is distinguished by his work ethic, excellence in conduct, and outstanding devotion to the school through service to classmates. 

The Class of 2024 recipient: Brant T. Willis

The Rockhurst Senior Class Award of Excellence and Achievement

Each year, the senior class chooses one of its own as the recipient of the Senior Class Award of Excellence and Achievement. The citation for this award reads: 
“recognizing the possession of qualities we hope that others find in us, and having experienced and benefited from his extraordinary devotion to our class and to our school, we, the members of the Class of 2024 proudly award the Rockhurst High School Senior Class Award of Excellence and Achievement.”

The 2024 recipient: Thomas S. Coppinger
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