Clear skies. Low 57F. W winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..
Clear skies. Low 57F. W winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
Updated: June 7, 2024 @ 3:27 pm
Senior Chaise Jordon receives the inaugural Olyvia DuSold Culinary Arts Scholarship presented by Martin DuSold and Keila DuSold at Beaumont High School’s Class of 2024 senior awards night.
Beaumont High School Air Force Junior ROTC completes the Presentation of Colors at Beaumont High School’s Class of 2024 senior awards night.
Fifth District Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez addresses the honorees and attendees at Beaumont High School’s Class of 2024 senior awards night.
Senior Chaise Jordon receives the inaugural Olyvia DuSold Culinary Arts Scholarship presented by Martin DuSold and Keila DuSold at Beaumont High School’s Class of 2024 senior awards night.
Beaumont High School Air Force Junior ROTC completes the Presentation of Colors at Beaumont High School’s Class of 2024 senior awards night.
Fifth District Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez addresses the honorees and attendees at Beaumont High School’s Class of 2024 senior awards night.
The Beaumont High School Class of 2024 senior awards was held Thursday, March 30. Proud parents, family and friends packed Beaumont High School gymnasium to cheer for the award and scholarship recipients.
Awardees were dressed in their blue graduation gowns. Shiny colorful stoles, bright cords and elegant medallions, representing a variety of outstanding academic achievements were awarded to students. Such embellishments represent the accumulation of arduous work and will adorn their gowns on graduation day.
Recognitions were presented to Career Technical Education pathway completers, National Honor Society members, California Scholarship Foundation members, Associated Student Body participants, Dual Immersion Language program participants including those who received multiliteracy and biliteracy seals, and AVID participants.
Recognizing scholastic achievement, 42 seniors were awarded a bronze medal for earning cum laude status (top 10 percent of the class), 13 students were awarded a silver medal for earning magna cum laude (top 4 percent), and 13 students earned a gold medal for summa laude status (top 2 percent).
One honor of the night that brought gasps and cheers from students and attendees was the impressive prefect attendance award. This was awarded to only two seniors, Adrian De La Mora and Jasmin Vazquez, who, in 13 years, have never missed a day of school.
Scholarships, varying from $500 to $3,000 and totaling more than $80,000, were presented to help pay for books, tuition and other educational needs. Local businesses, community organizations, service clubs, past and present educators, employee groups and local families funded and presented the scholarships.
Several of the scholarships have strong connections to the Pass Area.
The Willard Love Scholarship honors Love for his 16 years of service on the Beaumont Unified School District Board of Trustees in addition to his involvement in a number of activities and committees in the area, which focused on quality of education for the young, before retiring in 2021. This scholarship was awarded to Candice Vilte.
The Lee Hackney Memorial Scholarship is in honor of Lee Hackney who was a 30-year resident of Beaumont and worked for Beaumont Unified for 26 years — 14 as a Beaumont High School librarian and 16 years as the Beaumont Unified technology coordinator at the library.
When presenting the award, Hackney’s son, Luke said, “My mom constantly gave back to the community of Beaumont and Beaumont Unified School District through various service projects and organizations and touched the lives of many throughout her life. She was always a champion for students who wanted to go into the field of education. It is only fitting that she continues to give back to the community and school district, even after succumbing to cancer in 2016. Tonight, we have a student who has been chosen because of their service and desire to go into the field of education.”
This scholarship was presented to Emily Merriman.
The Olyvia DuSold Culinary Arts Scholarship was introduced this year and was presented by Olyvia’s sister Keila DuSold and father Martin DuSold. Olyvia was a 2012 Beaumont High School graduate, whose life came to a tragic end in September 2023.
Before presenting the scholarship Keila said, “What I want to make sure to share with you tonight in honor of her. You can do anything you want in this life. You’re capable and have everything in you to do anything you want. Olyvia would tell me this and she discovered it through traveling more than anything. So, if you don’t know where to start, go travel and explore. You can impact your life and that of your community by believing this and reminding others.”
Martin DuSold told how in early 2012 Olyvia flew home from Portland, Oregon to participate in the Beaumont High School graduation ceremony for she had already started her schooling at the Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Institute.
Martin said, “Olyvia had already met a new friend, who would go on to be one of her earliest adventure partners and became acquainted with organic produce and farm-to-table nutrition at the many farmers markets in and around Portland. Olyvia would complete her culinary program and go on to work studying in intern programs in Antibes, France, on the French Riviera, as well as in Melbourne, Australia. She traveled to beautiful places, such as Bali, Indonesia, the Bahamas, South American countries such as Colombia, El Salvador, Panama and Peru, and then made her home in a small community of Dominica, Costa Rica, where she set out to ingrain herself in the community and immerse herself in the culture.”
“Olyvia taught herself Spanish, worked to develop a foundation to positively impact Dominica’s children as well as the domestic animal population. She could not have started off without the help of many here at BHS, and none more so than culinary arts teacher Ross Carter, who provided her with the space to cultivate her dream and a source of inspiration and guidance along her path. It was a devastating blow when, in September 2023, Olivia tragically passed away and a life was cut short that assuredly was changing lives around her. With this award and scholarship, we offer this year’s recipient the encouragement to dream big, to look beyond boundaries and limits that may present hurdles in your path. Dare to float on, taking on opportunities that arise and soaring on any perceived limitations. With heavy hearts, though, with great pride, we honor our daughter and our sister in awarding the inaugural Olyvia DuSold Culinary Arts Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 in check and culinary arts supplies.”
The recipient of this scholarship was Chaise Jordon.
Lisa Hendrix presented the Daniel Goodell Memorial Scholarship, in honor of her father. She shared that her father had a jaded outlook toward higher education and government due to his affluent friends having the resources to go to universities while he was drafted to go to war. However, when a baby came along, he did not serve, due to him being the sole supporter of the family. With no formal education, but drive and initiative, he exceeded in mechanical engineering and found ways to improve processes, eventually opening his own successful business.
Hendrix said, “This scholarship is to honor his memory and will go to a student not seeking a four-year university. I believe that today’s recipient of the Daniel Goodell Scholarship shows the same kind of gumption my dad did.”
The recipient was Emily Carney.
The Plesinger Scholarship honors Stephen Plesinger, a refugee from Yugoslavia who lived on a poultry ranch in Cherry Valley. Presenter Lisa Hendrix shared that Plesinger had a love for sports “with his fondest memory of his homeland being participating in the mini-Olympics held at the refugee camps, where his family lived while awaiting sponsorship to the United States. Stefan saw participation in sports as a way for young adults to grow and mature, especially for the shy and insecure. He viewed sports as a vehicle for learning and the art of winning and losing graciously as a way of preparing young and old to meet life’s obstacles as well.”
The Stephan Plesinger scholarship was awarded to Jasmine Barber.
For the past nine years, Jason and Tammy Bennecke have awarded the Bennecke Achievement Scholarship to promising students at local high schools. Jason is a local civil engineer, businessman and bestselling thriller author. Tammy is a former fifth grade teacher at Three Rings Ranch, and their daughters graduated from Beaumont High School. The four recipients of the Bennecke Achievement Scholarship: Madison Silva, Christopher Morant, Adrian Farias and Isabella Florence, each received $2,500.
The Cody Kolkow Memorial Scholarship was created by his parents to honor their son, a 2020 graduate of Beaumont High School. Cody Kolkow loved school and was attending Universal Technical Institute to become a mechanic when his life was tragically cut short.
The presenter, Susan Aguilar Martinez, said, “The scholarship is awarded to a senior who has the same passion and desire to attend UTI upon graduation.”
This scholarship was awarded to Alfredo Cuevas Lagos.
The Beaumont-Cherry Valley Rotary has been providing scholarships since 1986. For 2024, it presented 14 scholarships totaling $12,500.
The Wildlands Oak Glen Nature Conservancy Scholarship assists a student whose desire is to pursue a career in environmental studies, natural resources and conservation. Rylee Pene, the recipient of the $3,000 scholarship will be attending UC Berkeley to pursue her education in environmental studies and a career in wildlife biology.
Beaumont High School counselor Allyson Ault closed the ceremony with this message, “Something I’ve learned in my 20-plus years here is teenagers are funny, interesting, kind, compassionate and intelligent. And you guys are the future. Because you’re the future, we’re going to be okay. We’ll see you all next week at graduation.”
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
The evening before graduation the Banning High School seniors donned their caps and gowns to collect their academic awards and scholarships during the school’s Senior Awards Night on Thursday, May 30.
Two prestigious national scholarship recipients, a veteran re-entering the workforce and a proud mother and her son were among the record-number of graduates who participated in the Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 23, at Pechanga Resort Casino.
The Beaumont High School Class of 2024 senior awards was held Thursday, March 30. Proud parents, family and friends packed Beaumont High School gymnasium to cheer for the award and scholarship recipients.
On Thursday, May 23, the Calimesa Chamber Foundation held its 2024 Scholarship Awards Tea at Edward-Dean Museum and Gardens, where it awarded scholarships to nine remarkable seniors from four local high schools.
At the Beaumont Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting held Tuesday, May 21, the main items discussed included a future bond, a review and update of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and a brief overview of the 2024-25 budget.
The 25-year Facilities Master Plan and the expansion of mental health services to children and families were the biggest topics of discussion at the May 7 Beaumont Unified School District Board meeting.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Would you like to receive our weekly news updates? Signup today!
Would you like to receive our weekly sports updates? Signup today!
Each day’s obituaries, delivered to your inbox. Signup today!
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
