Mat-Su graduations commence

MAT-SU — Schools across the Valley are gearing up for graduation season this week.

Among the many Mat-Su Borough School District students who will be celebrated for their hard work in the next few days, two Valley students stand out among the many as exceptional representatives of Alaska and the Valley, seniors Ariel Hasse from Mat-Su Career and Technical and Alexandra Butler from Wasilla High.

Hasse has been named a Presidential Scholar and received earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, among other accolades. And Butler is looking forward to attending the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School in Rhode Island for a year before making her way to Annapolis and the U.S. Naval Academy.

As a Presidential Scholar, Hasse is one of only 141 students nationwide to be receive one of the highest scholarly honors in the United States. The program does not include a financial award, but does offer an expense-paid travel to Washington, D.C., in June, where Hasse will not only be recognized for her work, but also meet academics, government officials, and artists, as well as fellow Presidential Scholars. During this trip, Hasse will attend receptions and ceremonies that will serve as intense platforms for the conveyance of ideas between similarly accomplished peers.

Hasse’s Gold Award was no doubt just one of many achievements that led to her recognition as a Presidential Scholar. The equivalent of the Boy Scouts Eagle Scout designation, the Gold Award is earned by completing an impactful and sustainable project that requires at least 80 hours of work.

Hasse went above and beyond the minimum of these requirements when she created the High School of the Future Design Competition. Hasse’s initiative tasks high school competitors with drafting their ideal “school of the future,” concentrating on aspects like sustainability and community.

The ingenuity of Hasse’s project was recognized nationally: not only did 14 schools from across the U.S. participate in the competition this year, but Hasse also presented the idea at the Educational Facility Planners International conference in San Antonio and before a sustainable architectural firm in Chicago.

In addition to those accomplishments, Hasse has not only participated in Nation Science Olympiads, but also served as the president of both the Mat-Su Student Advisory Board as well as the Alaska Association of Student Governments. Beyond her achievements and positions, Hasse is a giant proponent of a greater representation of females in the sciences. Her intent is to attend the California Institute of Technology in Passadena this coming fall, where she says she would like to study physics.

Butler’s opportunity at the Naval Academy Preparatory School and beyond was made easy after she received nominations not only from Alaska’s three congressional representatives, but also President Barack Obama.

During her high school career, Butler has been the president of the student body at Wasilla for the past two years, served previously as the president of the Wasilla Interact club (a junior division of the Rotary organization), held leadership positions in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and is captain of the Wasilla High swim team.

As the name implies, the Naval Academy prep school affords its students a year to study higher-level classes, emphasizing the areas of English composition, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and information technology, while also preparing students for the physically challenges of the academy. Butler said she is ecstatic about this opportunity, and plans to work on her “chemistry and calculus skills,” which she knows will be important in the following years.

Aside from a summer seminar that she attended, which allowed her to see what life would be like at the academy, Butler attributed her decision to her family and community.

She said her desire to pursue a career at the in part because of her parents’ Navy careers. And she credits the tremendous support received from her U.S. Naval Academy Blue and Gold Officer, Dan Kennedy, as a factor.

By attending the Naval Academy, Butler will add to the presence of Wasilla High graduates in Annapolis. She will join her older sister, Kara Butler, who will is entering her junior year at the academy, as well as Teresa Kennedy, a forthcoming senior. David Kennedy graduated from Wasilla in 2009 and from Naval Academy in 2013.

Through her acceptance to prep school and Naval Academy, Butler is the recipient of more than $460,000 in the form of scholarships. After her graduation, Butler will be commissioned as an officer, committed to at least five years of service in either the Navy or the U.S. Marine Corps.

She said she is “so thrilled at this opportunity to spread [her] wings.”

2015 graduation schedule

Graduation ceremonies are planned at 13 Mat-Su Borough School District facilities from May 7 to May 15.

Ceremonies are planned at the following times, dates and places for 2015:

• Beryozova — No seniors — awards at 1:30 p.m., May 12 at Beryozova School

• Alaska Middle College at 2 p.m., May 12 at Wasilla Bible Church

• Mat-Su Career and Technical at 7 p.m., May 12 at Menard Sports Complex

• Palmer High at 7 p.m., May 12 at Palmer High Gym

• Colony High at 7 p.m., May 13 at Menard Sports Complex

• Su-Valley School at 7 p.m., May 13 at Su-Valley School

• Mat-Su Central at 1 p.m., May 14 at Menard Sports Complex

• Twindly Bridge at 7 p.m., May at Wasilla High Theater

• Wasilla High at 7 p.m., May 14 at Menard Sports Complex

• Valley Pathways at 1 p.m., May 15 at Menard Sports Complex

• Burchell High at 7 p.m., May 15 at Menard Sports Complex

Kaden Weaver is a Valley Grown summer intern for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.