Desert Vista's '08 class record-breaking

Desert Vista's Class of 2008 was all about breaking records - at least when it came to graduation.

A record 703 walked in a wet and cold ceremony Thursday night, including 365 females and 338 males. The class had a record four valedictorians, and more than 300 students were offered a record $15,098,346 in scholarship money.

"I wouldn't say it if it weren't true: these guys are just unbelievable," said Desert Vista principal Anna Battle. "This year has been amazing, because we have amazing kids at Desert Vista. This is a culmination, this is a celebration of four years that I'm just very glad to participate in."

Each of the four valedictorians - Megan Garland, Nicole Jiam, Dexter Scobee and Joanna Yang - tied to rank first in the class.

"It's nice to be recognized," said Scobee, who will be attending Princeton to study chemical engineering. "It is special, not a lot of people get to do this. I just feel fortunate."

Garland will be moving on to Boston University and majoring in biology.

"It's been really nice to have teachers that you know you can always go to for help," she said. "These friends that I've grown up with for the past 12 years, it's been really nice to be able to feel like I'm at home in a place that's comfortable to me."

Yang will be heading to Arizona State University to study biological sciences.

"The best part has been being able to spend time with your friends, to experience the good and the bad with them, and to see them grow," she said.

The class had a 96 percent graduation rate, though Battle said that number could grow higher by the end of the summer and next fall.

Of the graduates, 97 percent will go on to postsecondary education. The drop-out rate for the Thunder's Class of 2008 was 0.37 percent.

Among the graduates were 11 National Merit Scholarship winners and another National Merit Scholarship finalist.

"It's scary to think, 'Oh my gosh, can we continue to do this?' And my answer to the question is, 'Yes,'" Battle said. "It takes a lot of hard work and it also takes great leadership and mentoring from faculty and staff."

Jiam, who will continue her education at Johns Hopkins to study neuroscience, said it was "surreal" to finally graduate.

"After all these four years, you always think, 'OK, I have one more year left. Keep going, keep the grades up,'" she said. "Now that you're finally here, you can just enjoy it."

Scobee said he'd miss the people the most.

"Desert Vista has some of the best teachers, great kids," he said. "I have some awesome friends. I've been fortunate to learn from some of the best teachers.

"It's just been a great experience. I've grown a lot as a person and that's because of the people I've met."

The senior class also saw two team state championships during the 2007-08 school year, including the school's first in boys' basketball, a second-consecutive in boys' track and runner-up finishes in football, boys' cross country, boys' swim and dive, girls' golf and boys' tennis.

The athletic program as a whole was awarded the H.A. Hendrickson Award for Excellence in Interscholastic Activities for the 5A division.

Desert Vista also had three Flinn Scholars: Yang, Kellie Mejdrich and Eric Stout. The Flinn Scholars Program awards 20 scholarships to students from throughout the state to attend either Arizona, Arizona State or Northern Arizona, based on "intellectual curiosity, personal characteristics, commitment, and demonstrated leadership potential," as well as the course load each student pursued during high school.

"If I take it all and put it in a bowl and stir it all around, we've got some great ingredients, what the Class of 2008 is representing," Battle said. "There will be many of these same kids that will make a major impact on the communities in which they live."

See the rest of AFN's complete graduation coverage:

Graduation Night:

DV and MP weather the rain during graduation

Wet weather won't keep Mountain Pointe grads down

Desert Vista's '08 class record-breaking

Class Lists:

Mountain Pointe

Desert Vista

Features:

Identical triplets set to walk in Mountain Pointe grad ceremony

Boatload of DV grads to become midshipmen - or women

Sports:

Carman, Hood MP's scholar-athletes of the year

Shepard, Kline DV's scholar-athletes of the year

Ellenberger, Sangston Horizon Honors' student-athletes of the year