New Mexico School for the Arts
Valedictorian: Ezri Horne Salutatorian: Emily Brown
Class officers: Ana Rael and Hugo Pizano, co-presidents; Merit Willey and Sawyer Sverre-Harrell, student council reps
Class flower: Bleeding heart
Class song: “Take On Me” by a-ha Individual accomplishments and scholarships
Jimmy Toomey was a finalist in the prestigious 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Ana Rael and Triana Reid were selected as the inaugural Miller Scholars, a distinction awarded each year to two outstanding students in NMSA’s Creative Writing and Literature Program.
Ezri Horne, Emily Brown and Merit Willey were declared Century Bank Super Scholars, as they scored a 26 or above on their ACT test (or SAT equivalent), and are among the top 10 percent of their graduating class.
Sam Barrett won first place in the New Mexico Music Guild’s Jackie McGehee Young Artist Competition.
Ezri Horne won a silver medal for her art portfolio in the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, also winning a $1,000 prize. Horne also received two gold keys for individual pieces and a nomination for the American Visions Award. Horne was a Young Arts Winner with an honorable mention for her portfolio. Horne also was the recipient of a Los Alamos National Labs Employee Scholarship.
Jason Duncan, True Overlie and Merit Willey are recipients of the Davis New Mexico Scholarship
Class accomplishments and recognition:
The NMSA Class of 2017 received $6.5 million in scholarship and financial assistance offers, breaking all previous NMSA senior class records. All 48 seniors were accepted to a college, university, military or postsecondary arts training program.
“As you head off to your next steps in life, remember this: The choices you have made over the past four years have unlocked new and exciting opportunities and possibilities. Keep doing what you do so well — embrace hard work, embrace things that scare you, embrace creation, embrace feedback, embrace failure, embrace joy — for these are the things that will support you as you build meaningful and fulfilling lives for yourselves. We can’t wait to see what your futures hold!” — Eric Crites, principal, and Cindy Montoya, head of school