VHHS sends 467 Rebels into the world 'without limits'

From kindergarten to career prep, the faculty and staff at Vestavia Hills City Schools preach "Learning Without Limits."

At the 2017 Vestavia Hills High School graduation, the theme was "Celebrating Without Limits."

In their time as Rebels, the Class of 2017 accomplished quite a lot, and Superintendent Sheila Phillips presented the audience with a list of their accomplishments.

There were 1,026 Advanced Placement tests taken by 466 of the students. Of the class, 205 graduated with academic honors, and 119 were presented with awards at graduation for having a GPA of 4.0 or higher. The We The People team, made up of seniors, won the district and state competition for the 13th year in a row, coming in eighth nationally, and the math team won four tournaments. The class has 17 National Merit Finalists, participants in award-winning arts groups and 67 percent of the graduates were offered academic scholarships totaling $31 million, the most in school history.

This year's class of Rebels were also part of significant athletic achievements, with 15 of 21 athletic teams qualifying for state tournaments, three–boys bowling, boys golf and girls soccer–earning state runner-up titles and the wrestling team taking home a state win.

The Class of 2017 is also a philanthropic group, Phillips said, as the students helped the school raise over $280,000 for cancer research just this year, as well as other volunteer and donation efforts.

Remarks were made at graduation by Phillips, Mayor Ashley Curry, outgoing BOE President Mark Hogewood, Vice Presidents Hope Renea Henson and Graham Edwards Thompson, treasurer Sherry Wu, secretary Daryl Jenae Wilson and Class President Matthew Barry Bates.

Of the class, 86 percent are heading to four year colleges, 10 percent are headed to two-year colleges and 4 percent are headed to the military or full-time employment.

For more of the accomplishments of the Class of 2017, visit vestavia.k12.al.us/withoutlimits.