Congratulations to 19 members of the B7 Ward family who have
recently graduated from a variety of high schools and universities. These bright and talented young graduates
will now move on to the next phase of their lives, whether it be more education,
missions or employment – or a combination of all three. Best of luck to all of the following:
Six of nineteen B7 graduates. Bottom row from left: Tanner Schall, Aspen Erskine, and Caroline Bown. Top row, from left: Mitchell Smith, Liz Larson and Vivian Fraser. |
Aspen Erskine, youngest daughter of Jerry and Lorraine
Erskine, is now an alumni of Desert Hills High School, graduating as the
youngest in her class of 354 students. In high school Aspen played
flute for four years in both the pep band and the concert band and played basketball
for two years, all while keeping up her grades, earning her Young Womens
Recognition Award and attending all four years of seminary. Her future includes general studies at Dixie
State University before serving a mission somewhere in the world. Upon her return she will complete her
education but at this time, is undecided as to her course of
study.
Vivian Fraser, oldest daughter of Steve and Jill Fraser, is
one of four B7 Young Women to graduate this year from Dixie High School. Although most of her high school years were
spent in Boise, Vivian has adjusted well to her new hometown. In Boise, she was part of the cheer
squad. At DHS, she has enjoyed her
involvement in theater and seminary; and, recently completed requirements for
and received her Young Woman Recognition Award.
Her future educational goal, beginning in the fall, is to study early
childhood development and speech therapy at Utah Valley University.
Caroline Bown, 3rd daughter of James and Paula Bown’s six children, graduated #1 in her class of 35 students - and as one of 7 Valedictorians - in Dixie High School’s Class of 2015 and with a cumulative ACT score of 27. A runner-up Sterling Scholar in music, this bright young woman is on her way to BYU in the fall with the help of a Regent Scholarship to pay part of her expenses. She is, at the moment, undecided as to what her major will be as she works toward a Bachelors degree, but is certain she will be taking time out of her studies to serve a mission in the future.
Mitchell Smith, 4th - and the youngest of three sons - of Eric and Karin Smith’s five children, recently donned his cap and gown for graduation from Dixie High School, where he ran track and cross country and maintained “straight A’s”, completed four years of seminary, earned his Eagle scout award, and still found time to work part time at Batteries Plus. Now that the ceremonies are over, he plans to work as long as necessary to earn money for a mission. Mitchell has a scholarship at Dixie State University, but his father hopes he will study engineering at MIT, while his mother wants him to study at BYU. Mitchell will have two years in the mission field to decide what HE wants to do.
Tanner Schall, youngest son of Jason and Lori Schall’s eight children, has been homeschooled for all of his life by his mother and is pleased to now be a high school graduate. But he is particularly excited to have completed four years of early morning seminary with his friends in the B7 Ward. This happy young man’s future will now include traveling 300 miles each week to work with his father at the two assisted living facilities the Schall’s own in Lake Havasu.
Summer Simkins,
oldest daughter of Randy and Sharlan Simkins, is a new graduate of Dixie High
School where she was named Softball Player of the Year; received an All-State honorable
mention in Softball and made the All-State Team in softball. She graduated with honors, was named a Utah
Scholar and received a scholarship; and, a full tuition scholarship at Dixie
State University. Of her years as a
Dixie Flyer, Summer says, “I absolutely loved high school where my favorite
activities were big football or basketball games on Friday night and dances
such as Homecoming, Sadies and Senior Ball on Saturday night – and they were
always a blast!”
In
the fall of 2015, Summer will continue pursuing her education at DSU where she
will do General Studies while playing on the softball team. After she completes her Associate Degree she
hopes to earn a Bachelors Degree in writing and/or journalism. Summer adds, “A mission is a possibility, too. I have lots
of ideas and interests right now ... just not sure which direction I’ll go yet.”
Warner Brown, youngest of Vanda Lawson's 8 children, plans to spend his summer working and playing his guitar while considering his future now that he has graduated from Dixie High School. Calling the high point of his days as a DHS Flyer as "the chance to meet and make real friends," Warner also states he graduated with passing grades and hopes to eventually find his way back to school at some point. His first choice would be to attend UVU - and maybe serve a mission - but he is not ready to commit to any serious plans at the moment.
Ian Ford, second son of Scott and Sophia Ford and one of 352 recent graduates of Dixie High School, says he didn’t apply for scholarships because his father is on the faculty at Dixie State University so he will have free tuition while he studies his “generals.” In high school, in addition to his impressive 3.8 gpa, he played percussion (actually, he's played since the 8th grade) and participated on the debate team during his junior year. Not yet sure what his career goals are, Ian is keeping his options open for a transfer to another university when the time comes. In the meantime, he is giving some thought to a mission.
Trevor Davies, second son of RaeLynn Davies, is one of 76 new graduates of Millcreek High School. Trevor was also recently honored by the St. George Dixie Elks Lodge #1743 as one of 22 Students of the Year for accomplishments in academics, the arts, athletics and service. For the next year, Trevor will be competing in boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in northern Utah, then hopes to complete a bachelor’s degree in business and entrepreneurship, starting his college studies first at Salt Lake Community College. Calling himself "pretty picky" he has not yet made a decision as to his university of choice for his further studies.
Lisa Carson, youngest daughter of Kendall and Mary Jean Carson, collected her Associate of Science degree from Dixie State University during ceremonies held in the Burns Arena on Thursday, May 8. This most recent milestone comes only 8 months after returning home with honor from a fulltime mission in Nashville, TN. Her next big adventure will be 10-months of massage therapy training in Bountiful.
Brianna Teddie Bair, oldest daughter of Mike and Lori Bair,
graduated with a major in Communications and Public Relations in early April
from BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. Her next adventure is a 3-week study abroad program
in Europe where she will visit in London, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland
and other points of interest. From there
she will begin the search for a “big girl job” which may mean she will be
moving to northern Utah in the near future.
Sarah Bown, oldest daughter of James and Paula Bown, had a memorably, exciting springtime, graduating from BYU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in mid-April followed by her marriage in the St. George Temple and a reception in her parent’s backyard in mid-May. The future for the new Mrs. Braden Myers will now include work toward a Masters Degree in Writing from BYU.
Ashley Wilkes, oldest of Rob and Chardell Wilkes five
children, accepted her Associate of Science degree from Dixie State University in early May. Her immediate future – at
least for the summer months – will center on her full-time work at Beehive Homes and
taking a few classes in anticipation of working toward a
Bachelors degree in chemistry. She hopes, one day, to study at NYU on the east coast, but for
now, she plans to continue her studies at DSU.
Also part of the B7 Ward family and high school graduates in the spring
of 2015 are Rachel Landon, daughter of B7 Ward member Jim Landon and
granddaughter of Keith and Ruth Landon (deceased) who recently graduated from Cedar
City High School; Emily Robles, one of 342 graduates of Snow Canyon High
School; and Natasha Carnell, daughter of Casey and Joy Carnell, now a Class of 2015 alumni of Tuacahn High School.
If you are aware of any graduate who was missed in this blog post or whose accomplishments were reported incorrectly, please e-mail Lcsappi66@gmail.com.
If you are aware of any graduate who was missed in this blog post or whose accomplishments were reported incorrectly, please e-mail Lcsappi66@gmail.com.
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