With a hearty toast and a request they never forget where they came from, the Westminster Public Schools Board of Education, and the district’s lead educators celebrated the hard work of Westminster High School’s top ten students at the annual Top Ten Brunch on Monday, May 12. 

It was held at the Robert J. Landgraf Center for Teaching Excellence where Superintendent Jeni Gotto told students how proud they had made their community. “This is a big day for us, a special day for many of us,” she said. “Because this is the culmination of seeing what happens from those preschool days all the way up to this momentous time of graduation.”

Gotto asked each student to stand and introduce themselves while sharing their plans for the future. Most of the students spent their entire careers in Westminster Public Schools and talked about someday giving back to the community.

Among them, Mildred Macias Lavin, who shared a table with Principal Kiffany Kiewiet. Lavin plans to pursue a career in nursing. Kiewiet will deliver her final graduation speech this year before moving into the district’s Human Resources Department. The two laughed about who will be more emotional on graduation day. 

The Top Ten list also included a very notable name, Dakota Hull, who won the state wrestling championship for her division, becoming the district’s first-ever state champion. She is going to Adams State University on an athletic and academic scholarship where she will study mechanical engineering. 

Senior Diego Ruiz has a strong connection to Board of Education member Dan Orecchio, an architect who took Diego under his wing and helped him with his career path. Diego will be attending the University of Nebraska School of Architecture on a full tuition scholarship.

Washington, D.C., will be the next stop for Lindiwe Manyothwane who is planning to attend Howard University to study biology with the help of a major scholarship. 

Top Ten Students

• Samantha Morales Jurado 
• Lindiwe Manyothwane 
• Tatyanna Chanthongthip 
• Mildred Macias Lavin 
• Saray Martinez  
• Ashlyn Rivera 
• Angelina Tran 
• Laila Olivas Balderas 
• Dakota Hull 
• Diego Ruiz