Things were definitely different this year for their 28 graduates, but that didn’t stop University Heights Academy from sending the class of 2020 out into the next step of their lives.
It was a drive-through style graduation that took place in the school’s parking lot and the crowd was very limited in who could attend, in the name of social distancing. There were three valedictorians—Kevli Sheth, Jackson Cotthoff, and Roma Desai—and Cotthoff urged his fellow classmates to stride forward into the future with confidence and good humor.
Desai thanked her teachers for the limitless work and effort they have put into teaching her and her class, and that passion will help her in the years to come.
Sheth said she learned many different lessons from her time at UHA, but the most important one was to love those around you.
University Heights Academy had two National Merit scholars in Sheth and Desai, who also both received the Dr. Melissa Yates Gray Memorial Science Scholarship Award. The Head of School Award went to Adam Goode and Best All Around Upper School went to Sheth and Dylan Edmonson. The Elizabeth Atwood Award was taken by Lily Hendricks, who also received the Kiwanis Key Club Award along with Rachel Craig.
Allison Sunderhaus was given the Kiwanis Citizenship Award and the Weidmer Faculty Award went to Technology Director Joanah Kendall.
The 2020 graduating class earned over one million dollars in scholarships—not including KEES money.