Catholic High School held its graduation ceremony May 16, with seniors Joseph Whitehead, Christopher Pace and Luke Cornelison serving as the speakers. The valedictorian was Zachary Ellis. The salutatorian was Fredrick Zawislak, son of Luciana Zawislak. He is planning to study mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
Other graduates were
Andrew Alley
Noah Anderson
Cyrus Anderson
Miles Atkinson
Ian Bakr
John Baldwin
Ibrahima Baro
Evan Barone
Jackson Barron
Ethan Baser
Edwin Bautista
John Baxter
Penick Bell
Ryan Beranek
Jake Black-Ocken
Thomas Blagg
Aidan Bordador
Bo Bradford
Payton Bradley
Chris Bratton
Will Brennan
Will Brown
Harry Bryant
Robert Buchmann
James Bui
Braxton Burks
Jackson Byrd
Christopher Cannon
Andrew Cetina-Crouch
Mason Chambers
Giovanni Chiechi
Jacob Chudy
Aidan Coffman
Carter Compton
Carter Cope
Evan Cordova-Page
Luke Cornelison
Conner Crum
Whit Cupples
Dutch Daniel
Ethan Davidson
Charles Davis
Griffin Davis
Adam Davis
Gabriel De Luna- Vargas
Evan Dearworth
Jackson Dennis
Vincent Denton
Tobias DeSalvo
Larry Desiderio
Ben Dillman
Anh Do
Kale Dobrovich
Ed Dodge
Finn Dugan
Chebem Ekeanyanwu
Jackson England
Paxon Enns
Aaron Estrada
France Favela
Ben Ferguson
Jake Feuers
Ian Fleischmann
Carson Franzetti
Cross Galusha
Ayden Garay
Jackson Givens
Brayden Glover
J. Refugio Gonzalez-Mendez
Grant Goodnight
Joseph Goodwin
John Guerrero-Lopez
Henry Gullic
Drew Gwinn
Corey Hall
Ben Harper
Aidan Harrell
Slade Harrelson
Cole Harrington
Reid Harris
Bram Hartzell
Isaac Head
Windsor Henry
Maddox Herr
Bauer Hubbard
Cooper Hudson
Evan Huff
Jaxon Hurtado
Alex Jansen
Elliot Johnson
Jack Johnston
Adam Jones
Magnus Kajevski
Alex Kassissieh
Adam Keene
James Kirspel
Michael Kittell
Mick Kline
Cannon Kyer
Thanh Le
Ian LeCrone
Campbell Lewis
Noel Lewis
Cory Lincoln
Garrett Mack
Hayden Mack
Andrew Marra
Rafael Martinez
Luke McGhee
Hudson McKnight
Gael Medina
Graham Melton
Gavin Melton
Sergio Mendez-Diaz
William Mercer
Gresham Messersmith
James Miller
Finley Milliorn
Joseph Moellers
Davis Moore
Ethan Mullenbach
Hamilton Needler
Wesley O’Connor
Powell Olaimey
Martin Olvey
Christopher Pace
Matthew Paddock
Sam Paladino
Carson Palmer
Grant Palmer
Kaleb Parker
Reed Parker
Griffin Paulson
Tyson Pfeiffer
Harley Pickard
Paul Plafcan
Joseph Polk
James Potts
Myles Ramer
Ryan Ransom
Richard Rappold
Ihle Reginio
Ethan Renard
Caden Richard
Nathan Robinette
Seth Roswell
Brandon Sanchez
Hayden Sebree
Grant Sellinger
Caleb Short
Wilbourn Shurgar
Tobias Simon
Reece Simon
Sam Skinner
Alex Smith
Sawyer Smith
Evan Sowell
Hudson Spruell
Adam Squires
Luke Staley
Reese Stalls
Porter Straessle
Liam Strode
Brian Tanner
Richmond Terrell
Jacob Thompson
Josh Thursby
Miles Tillemans
Cristian Tolentino
Joshua Tucker
Jack Van Horn
Nicholas Varela
Cade Verzwyvelt
Isaiah Vickers
Robert Wherry
Peyton White
Joseph Whitehead
Walker Wilson
Max Wilson
Pate Withrow
Jackson Wolfe
Hudson Wood
Andrew Wood
Tanner Yates
Valedictorian
Zachary Manual Ellis, 18
Parish: Christ the King in Little Rock
Parents: Adam and Kathy Ellis
College and major: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, mechanical engineering and physics
What goals do you plan to pursue after college? I’m not entirely sure. I guess I’ll go where God sends me and have a fun time getting there. It might be cool to join in on research in quantum computing or hydrogen-powered engines or something like that. I guess we’ll see.
What is your proudest accomplishment to date? Graduating from Catholic High. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and maybe a couple tears. I worked as hard as I could at every chance they’d give me and I’m proud to say I made it out in mostly one piece.
How will your faith be a part of your future? My faith is my life and my future. I hope that it will guide me to where I need to be and to what I need to do. I know that somewhere around 80 percent of Catholics lose their faith in college, but I don’t plan on letting that happen.
Scholarships: UARK Honors College Fellowship; Governor’s Distinguished Scholarship; The National Merit University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Scholarship
High school honors and awards: 2025 Catholic High Outstanding Christian Award; Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizenship Award; National Merit finalist/scholar; Presidential Scholar candidate; Arkansas Academic All-Star finalist; Congressman French Hill Educational Achievement Award; Tullio Jacuzzi Outstanding Senior Award; Catholic High Marine Corps JROTC Bravo Company Commander; co-chair of the 2024-2025 Youth Advisory Council of the Diocese of Little Rock
