Diplomas were awarded to 34 graduates of Portsmouth Notre Dame Junior/Senior High School by principal J.D. McKenzie and guidance counselor Beth Haney at a commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 21 in the school gymnasium. A Baccalaureate Mass was celebrated on Friday, May 19 in Portsmouth Holy Redeemer Church.
The Class of 2023 was offered $1.4 million in scholarships and accepted $229,350 of that total. Seventy-five percent of Notre Dame’s graduates are pursuing higher education. Twenty-five of the 34 graduates will be attending 12 colleges, including four outside of Ohio, and one will be joining the U.S. Air Force.
The class valedictorian is Annie Dettwiller of Otway, the daughter of Chuck and Jamie Dettwiller. She has accepted a $10,000 scholarship from the University of Cincinnati, where she will major in psychology with the goal of becoming a school psychologist.
The salutatorian is Kathryn Nelson of Portsmouth, the daughter of Ronald and Keri Nelson of Portsmouth. She has accepted $22,000 in scholarship offers and plans to attend Shawnee State University, where she will major in art education.
Graduating with honors diplomas were Kathrine Ball, Mallory Boland, Kamryn Bradford, Carter Campbell, Alexander Cassidy, Owen Dennewitz, Annie Dettwiller, Libby Kelly, Reed Lasswell, Reece Mault, Luke McGuire, Seth Mowery, Kathryn Nelson, Braeden Patmore and Dominic Sparks.
The school presents three special awards voted upon by the faculty. The Citizenship Award was given to Trinity Bowling for her contribution of time and energy to civic, community and school projects. The Senior Service Award was given to Kathryn Nelson for her generosity with her time toward course work and extracurricular activities.
The Outstanding Senior Award was given to Annie Dettwiller for best fulfilling the roles of scholar and leader in the school and community and demonstrating outstanding character, service to others and, on a daily basis, high Christian ideals in all of her activities.
Members of the Portsmouth Notre Dame Junior/Senior High School Class of 2023 are:
John Ball, Kathrine Ball, Mallory Boland, Trinity Bowling, Kamryn Bradford, William Burke, Carter Campbell, Alex Cassidy, Myles Cole, Tyler Davis, Owen Dennewitz, Annie Dettwiller, George Duran, Wade Fraley, Libby Kelly and Charlee Lansing.
Dalton Lasswell, Reed Lasswell, Reagan Lester, Laycie Mahle, Reece Mault, Luke McGuire, Hunter McNutt, Noah McWilliams, Seth Mowery, Kathryn Nelson, Braeden Patmore, Brighton Riegle, Dylan Seison, Dominic Sparks, C-Aira Verity, Wyatt Webb, Ashton Whaley and Charles Zheng.