The best and brightest of the Chalmette High School Class of 2019 gathered in the Chalmette High School Cultural Arts Center on April 24 for the school’s annual Senior Awards Night; a night in which about 70 seniors were recognized for their hard work, awarded over a million dollars in scholarship money, and named as coveted Golden Owls for their class. While all of the scholarships and awards are outstanding, a few of the awards given were of particular prestige.
Two seniors will join the ranks of nine other CHS graduates who have received the prestigious Posse Scholarship – a four year, full-academic scholarship valued at approximately $150,000 per student. Hailey Abrams will be attending the University of Notre Dame and Brian Williams will be attending Tulane University as part of the Posse program.
Senior Sage Montz was recognized for the outstanding achievement of completing 13 years of school with perfect attendance.
Senior Lukas Caruso, who has been an active member of the ROTC program at CHS for four years, was awarded the Tulane ROTC Scholarship in the amount of $21,040.00.
To cap off scholarship awards, the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation annually supports the graduating class with scholarships to further their education. This year the foundation gave 60 scholarships for a total gift amounting to $240,000.
The night ended with the most coveted award a graduating senior can receive – the title of Golden Owl. Senior class sponsor Tom Dugger said the award began 31 years ago and is awarded based on faculty nominations and voting. This year ten students were named as Golden Owls: Nicholas Campo, Ronnie Prestenbach, Emily Vu, Hayden Williams, Eryn Loria, Brian Williams, Hailey Abrams, Abigale Licciardi, Jaida Alphonso, and Holly Harper.
Award | Recipient |
Semper Fidelis Music Award – United States Marine Corps | Eryn Loria |
United States Marine Corps Award for Scholastic Excellence | Ronnie Prestenbach Jr. |
United States Marine Corps Award for Outstanding Athlete | Nicholas Powell |
Business and Professional Women’s Club Scholarship | Tessy Kolar, Raeann Koehler, Jaida Alphonso |
Posse Scholarship | Hailey Abrams, Brian Williams |
Lauren Saubat Memorial Student Council Award | Diamond Tate |
Rotary Club of St. Bernard | Douglas Eiserloh, Holly Harper, Raeann Koehler, Emily Vu |
Firefighters Association Awards | Abigale Licciardi, Holly Harper |
Tulane Book Award | Angela Romero Barron |
DAR Award | Eryn Loria |
Trudy Foret Science Award | Aseel Jebreel |
Candy Zeairs Mathematics Award | Emily Vu |
St. Bernard Chapter of the Louisiana Volunteers for Family and Community | Holly Harper |
Perfect Attendance Award | Sage Montz |
St. Bernard Retired Teachers’ Scholarship to Nunez | Kylei Ubas |
St. Bernard School Board Employees Federal Credit Union | Christian Kline |
Joseph Davies Scholarship | Emily Vu |
Ethel Pourciau/SBH Memorial Scholarship | Precious Charles |
Islenos Scholarship | Nicholas Powell |
John Richard Bienvenu Key Club Service Scholarship | Scotty Thornton |
St. Bernard Kiwanis Foundation Leadership Scholarship | Emily Vu |
Gulf Coast Bank Key Club Scholarship | Emily Vu |
St. Bernard School Board Members’ Scholarship | Patrick Oliver |
Joseph Accardo Scholarship | Eryn Loria |
Betty Polk Moody Award | Eryn Loria |
Al Waller Memorial Award | Ronnie Prestenbach Jr. |
CHS Faculty Awards | Aiden Edler, Jaidia Alphonso, Glen Palmisano |
Milton Sand Memorial Art Scholarship | Allison Deffes |
Pam Wegener Legacy Scholarship | Eryn Loria |
CHS Alumni Association Award | Hailey Abrams |
High Flying Owl Awards | Aseel Jebreel, Megan Nguyen, Hayden Williams |
Tulane ROTC Scholarship | Lukas Caruso |
Golden Owl Awards | Nicholas Powell, Brian Williams, Hailey Abrams, Jaida Alphonso, Ronnie Prestenbach Jr., Emily Vu, Abigale Licciardi, Eryn Loria, Hayden Williams, Holly Harper |
Meraux Foundation Scholarship Recipients:
Alayna Abadie, Hailey Abrams, Paul Alfonso Jr., Sierra Allemand, Amber Allen, Elizabeth Alphonso, Jaida Alphonso, Spencer Beck, Dustin Bell, Corrine Billiot, Tiffany Brandt, Hydiya Butler, Ashley Canas, Haylie Creason, Stormie Crowell, Amy Dang, Allison Deffes, Aiden Edler, Layla Favalora, India Flowers, Tyler Fogarty, James Frazier, Lexie Guerra, Falyn Hardouin, Holly Harper, Jarnell Hayes III, Trevor Hume, Aseel Jebreel, Christian Kline, Raeann Koehler, Ethan Konnecker, Gabriell Konnecker, Abigale Licciardi, Alondra Lombongtare, Eryn Loria, Jan Nicole Magundayao, Erica McCormick, Dylan Meredith, Sage Montz, Bao Nguyen, Kaitlyn Nguyen, Megan Nguyen, Patrick Oliver, Glen Palmisano III, Daniel Perez, Nicholas Powell, Ronnie Prestenbach Jr., Gage Randazzo, India Rhodes, Mariam Sanogo, Victoria Schaeffer, Derek Thompson, My Tra, Emily Tran, Kayla Tran, Emily Vu, Brian Williams, Hayden Williams, Diana Willoz, Joshua Zaldivar