NEAH BAY — Each of the 17 graduates of Neah Bay High School has received letters of acceptance to institutions of higher learning, ranging from Peninsula College, based in Port Angeles, to Stanford University, where valedictorian Evan Bowechop is headed.
The graduates, who celebrated commencement Saturday, have amassed scholarships in excess of $126,000, school officials said.
Robin Arnold, Neah Bay High School counselor and psychiatrist, said, “The success of these students lies with the community.”
Thousands of hours of volunteer work from parents and the Makah tribal community “have given them a solid foundation for life,” she said.
Arnold said the graduating seniors benefited from a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs — or GEAR UP — grant from the federal Department of Education received four years ago.
The six-year matching grant allowed the students to travel to various colleges and universities, Arnold said.
“This grant has given these students a global awareness that they would not have experienced in their isolated community,” she said.
Said salutatorian Thomas Lawrence: “Though we may live on a small, remote reservation, that does not mean that we can not make something out of our lives.”
