Student Life
All School Awards
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
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 | Frederick 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 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 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 2023 proudly award the Rockhurst High School Senior Class Award of Excellence and Achievement.”
The 2024 recipient: Thomas S. Coppinger
\
