UAIS Class of 2013 celebrates a world of opportunities

Four years ago, a group of 83 Utica Community Schools students made a decision to be part of a then one-year old program that promised them the world.

Now, this same set of students is leaving the Utica Academy for International Studies after leading their school to a national recognition as Michigan's most academically challenging high school.

"These 83 young men and women took a risk and made an investment that will pay out in dividends for them," said UAIS program director Thomas Lietz.

UAIS students celebrated their commencement ceremonies on Tuesday at Henry Ford II High School. The seniors represent the second graduating class in the school's history.

Commencement speaker Deanna Galer told her classmates that it was a combination of their skills that allowed them to succeed.

"We are now ready to encounter the next wave of people whom we will change and be changed by," Galer said. "We are ready to continue growing into men and women who will not only make our parents and school proud, but who will be looked upon as strong and virtuous individuals who enhance and change the world we live in."

It is a sense of confidence echoed by graduate Brandi Ledbetter.

"We will meet the trials before us head-on and head-strong thanks to the constant support of those around us, the strength we have had since day one to pursue a rigorous education, and the will we possess to succeed," Ledbetter said.

Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns noted that Class of 2013 graduates started their education careers as kindergarten students in the year 2,000 - a time of new beginnings and hope.

 "Class of 2013, you have met and exceeded the promise of a new millennium," she said. Board of Education vice president Gene Klida challenged each graduate to "continue to have uncompromising faith in yourself." Accomplishments of the UAIS Class of 2013 include:

• An average GPA of 3.74, an average ACT score of near 27, and an average SAT Score of 1840. 
• Thirty-one Valedictorians, three salutatorians, 65 UCS Academic Honorees, six Macomb County All-Academic Team members, and six National Merit Scholars, including three finalists.
• More than $3.6 million in scholarships.
• Acceptance at the state's and nation's most prestigious universities, including Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Goucher College , the University of Michigan, Rutgers, Alabama, Hillsdale College, Michigan State University, and North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Student trips to Spain, Africa, France, Italy, China and Puerto Rico.
• Michigan’s champion debaters and three of the state’s top students in the Michigan Mathematics Prize competition. The school's Quiz Bowl team was also undefeated two years in a row in county-wide competition.
• A national recognition for UAIS as being named by Washington Post as Michigan's most academically challenging high school, second in the midwest and 39th in the nation.

Rehman Ahmad 4
Henrih Alikaj 1 3 4 SCL
Salvatore Amato
Simona Avramovska 1 4 SCL
Ajla Bajrektarevic 3 4 CL
Janki Salil Balar 1 4 3 SCL
Stephanie Loren Baranski 4 MCL
Refaela K Beqi 3 4 MCL
Rachel Marie Bering 2 3 4 SCL
Kacper Biernacki 3 4 MCL
Titiana Sanziana Bona 1 3 4 SCL
Douglas Alan Bretz 4 CL
Danielle Grace Bridgeman 4
Joshua Lawrence Bullock 4
Kaitlyn Ann Butka 1 3 4 SCL
Vladut Mihai Chertic 1 4 SCL
Joshua Cho MCL
Sayma Haq Chowdhury
Alec James Cimino 4
Courtney Lauren Clark 1 3 4 SCL
Taylor Paige Clark 3 4 MCL
Jacob Scott Clode 1 4 SCL
Hannah Camille Conrad 4
Justin Alexander Davis 1 4 SCL
John Donald Everix 4
Paige Elizabeth Ferland 1 3 4 SCL
Samuel Thomas Floyd 1 3 4 SCL
Jennifer Nicole Forsythe 4 MCL
Sarah Katherine Fortunato 3 4 MCL
Jessica Leigh Gaines 1 3 4 SCL
Deanna Galer 1 3 4 SCL
Kerri Elizabeth Gudenau 3 4 CL
Gera Kaylin Hall 4
Brianna Marie Hempel 4
Samantha Laurie Hight 2 3 4 SCL
Jake Owen Huneau 3 4 SCL
Alexandru Catalin Ilovan MCL
Sara Elizabeth Irish 4 SCL
Brandon Walter Kaip 3 4 SCL
Victoria Anne Kearney 4
Christopher William Knarre 1 3 4 SCL
Megan Lynn Kolioupoulos 4 CL
Kaitlin Nicole Koselansky 1 3 4 SCL
Ashley Marie Krause 3 4 MCL
Jaime Elizabeth Kuligowski 3 4 MCL
Kyle Jefferson Lampar 4
Brandi Joy Ledbetter 1 3 4 SCL
Giovanni LoGrasso 3 4 MCL
Austin Edward McCool 4
Catherine Frances McKay 1 3 4 SCL
Marcus Alexander Murray 4
Sara Najjar Al Tinawi 1 3 4 SCL
Trevor William Newton 4 MCL
Alexandra Noga 2 3 4 SCL
Sevil Ozdemir 1 3 4 SCL
Megan Elizabeth Penzkofer 1 4 SCL
Nikita Sergeevich Petrovskiy 4 SCL
Chelsea Tyler Pridmore 4
Aaron Miller Rea 3 4 MCL
Jack Edward Reardon 4
Aaron Jacob Rush 4
Lauren Nicole Rutkowski 1 3 4 SCL
Leanne Grace Schewe 4
Katelyn Elizabeth Senkus 1 3 4 SCL
Bhrugisha Nikhil Shah 4
Veronica Hee-Soo Shin 4 CL
Emily Sue Simmons 1 3 4 SCL
Jasnoor Singh 1 3 4 SCL
Gordon John Smilnak 1 3 4 SCL
Daria Suzanne Solomon 1 3 4 SCL
Joseph Gene Spica 4
Zunerah Syed 3 4 MCL
Ryan Michael Tactac 1 3 4 SCL
Regina Angeleyne Tan 1 3 4 SCL
Vaska Stefanova Tchardakova 4
Danielle Marie Timm 4 SCL
Stephania Maria Vaglica 3 4 CL
Mani Gandhi Veerappan 4
Kashan Amir Wasti 4 MCL
Janice Leigh Ann Watson 4
Lucas Eugene Weingartz 1 3 4 SCL
Kirsten Ann Wienckowski 1 3 4 SCL
Troy Anthony Zuccaro 1 4 SCL Legend:
1 Valedictorian
2 Salutatorian
3 National Honor Society
4 IB Full Diploma Candidate Summa Cum Laude – SCL
(Graduating with Highest Honors)
GPA 3.9 & Above

Magna Cum Laude – MCL
(Graduating with High Honors)
GPA 3.7 - 3.89

Cum Laude – CL
(Graduating with Honors)
GPA 3.5 - 3.69