CONWAY — Kendall Fillippino, 18, admits she likes “to be in charge.” It’s why the senior at St. Joseph School in Conway has willingly led several school activities and volunteered for more responsibilities than the average student — running the AV booth during school Masses, leading the school’s Cyber Cafe, co-president of her senior class and playing goalie for the girl’s soccer team senior year when they needed more players. It’s a way to give back to her school. 

“We’re all like a big family,” she said.

Fillippino, the only child of parents Anthony and Tonja Fillippino, started attending St. Joseph in preschool.

Fillippino has been the head student running the Cyber Cafe, selling snacks to students, stocking and ordering more inventory, creating the menu and counting the money.

“It was part of a class we did in ninth grade to learn about business and everything. I helped out my 11th-grade year and 12th-grade year,” she said. “I get there at 7:25 a.m. every morning. I set everything up; I help count money, help see what we need” and take snack orders from 7:30 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. each school day.

As the co-president of her senior class, she served on the crest committee to help design the senior crest. They chose the Bible verse 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

“We fought the good fight, and we made it through despite COVID,” she recalled, which impacted her early high school years.

Academically, Fillippino earned the Walter Cronkite Journalism Excellence Award as the top student in her journalism class, helping to edit morning announcements, finalizing the yearbook and live-streaming sporting events last year.

This year, she ran the AV booth for school Masses, making sure the words to songs, prayers and Scripture appeared on the large screens during Mass and controlling the microphones throughout the sanctuary. She also helps assist during some 10:30 a.m. weekend Masses

“If I have any extra time before Mass officially starts and I finish setting everything up, I usually go into the adoration chapel,” Fillippino said. “I go in there and have my own prayer time before Mass starts.”

Her successes are anchored in hard work and understanding from her teachers in the Catholic school setting.

“I have severe ADHD. I have a very hard time sitting still. The good thing about St. Joe’s is it’s so small. The teachers know I have ADHD. The teachers let me stand up and walk around class if I need to,” Fillippino said. “I get extra time on tests because it’s harder for me to focus. I have a hard time with reading. ADHD people can have a bit of dyslexia.”

“I’m extremely grateful,” she added, that the teachers at St. Joseph helped accommodate her.

In the fall, Fillippino will attend the University of Central Arkansas in Conway to pursue a career in nursing, in either pediatrics or labor and delivery.

“I’ve always been called to help someone. Especially with how many nurses they don’t have right now, I feel like me doing anything will help,” she said.

Reflecting on her years at St. Joseph, she said she’s “more spiritual than I used to be” and takes to heart what one teacher told her: “Never give up and keep fighting for what you believe in.”

Most of all, she wants her classmates to remember she was giving.

“That I was the person who gave them free food from the Cyber Cafe; I would pay for their snacks,” Fillippino said.

Autumn Moss has nurtured her faith during school, on the weekends and during the summer.

The Mount St. Mary Academy senior is most proud of how much she has grown as a counselor for the past three years at Brookhill Ranch. This summer she will return as a senior counselor for 10 weeks in Hot Springs Village.

“It’s like my home,” the member of Christ the King Church in Little Rock said. “I love Brookhill. I started going to Brookhill when I was in seventh grade. Brookhill is where I found Christ. … At Brookhill, you learn what it is to be a leader, not a follower. When you are a leader you can show a positive influence over a group of people or even just yourself. I really learned what it is to have a relationship with the Lord at camp.”

Brookhill also influenced her to choose Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, where many of her “camp friends” will attend.

Every other Sunday, she teaches during Little Life at New Life Church, leading children in activities and Scripture lessons. 

Before and after school, you can usually find Moss in the athletic training room in the gym, where she ices down injuries or wraps a player’s wrist before a game as a student athletic trainer. Student trainers complete training and courses, including CPR and AED certification. For the 2021-2022 school year, Moss was awarded the Sara Fritz Outstanding Student Athletic Trainer Award. Student trainers are required to volunteer 80 hours during the school year, but Moss worked 200 hours her junior year.

“Girls will come in for something like PT (physical therapy) and maybe they just need some therapy on their arm, or they need ice or heat packs,” said Moss, captain of the softball team this year. “Sometimes when there are so many athletes that need help, Jeff (Stotts, athletic trainer) can’t always be the only one who can help them. So a lot of the SATs will jump in and help them.”

The experience over the past two years has pushed Moss toward a nursing degree.

“I knew from a little kid that I wanted to help people,” she said. “That drew me toward the nursing field. I hope to be a nurse practitioner in sports medicine in the near future.”

Moss has also made a name for herself as the Rockettes dance team manager. As a sophomore, she was looking for ways to get involved and the manager position was open so she applied. For each performance, she is on hand with her backpack of extra pants, lipstick and hairspray.

“I would say I am a pretty organized person,” she said. “Time management is really big … Since I am a senior there wasn’t someone who coming up after me that they had known yet, so I made them this book. I think I called it ‘The Manager’s Guide to Success.’ It has pictures of everything they can need and how to work the sound system.”

On top of her packed schedule, last fall, Moss stepped up as a Link Crew leader to mentor 10 freshman girls. The peer mentoring program was initiated in 2022 to help new students transition to high school.

“You walk through freshmen orientation, and you help them adjust to freshman year of high school,” she said. “You’re really a big sister to them, and if they have any questions about homecoming or football games or life in general, you are always that branch they can reach out to. I liked it because in my own family I have a little sister so it was a natural thing for me to do.”

TONTITOWN — Not one to call attention to herself, Ceci Medrano could easily slip past you without being noticed. But she will tell you that her four years in high school have made such a difference in her life to change her trajectory.

Ceci Alejandra Medrano, 17, is the oldest of three siblings and the first in her family to graduate from high school. For Medrano, that means not taking this opportunity for granted.

After attending a public junior high school in Bentonville, Medrano’s parents, Germaine and Cecilia Pena, parishioners at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Springdale, decided to send her to Ozark Catholic Academy. Her guidance counselor, Payton Bryant, said she got to know Medrano initially during the pandemic when she was a homebound student with support related to vertigo. Bryant said she worked closely with her in coordinating classroom support when she came to OCA.

“Ceci was identified with basic reading and math calculation disabilities,” she said. “But in addition to her math and reading hurdles, Ceci is also bilingual, and this proved to be both a blessing and a curse. Ceci would tell me, ‘Sometimes I have to translate a test question to Spanish and then answer myself in Spanish, and then write the actual answer back in English. It’s confusing, but it works.’

Medrano said she appreciates the challenges her parents faced and the sacrifices they have made to make this a possibility for her.

“They are happy that I have been able to make my own path,” she said.

While Medrano sets her eyes on the future, she understands she would not be in the position she is today without help.

“My freshman year, it was difficult to make the transition from public to private school. I did not know anyone here, and it was a lot for me,” she said.

Looking back, Medrano said her confidence has improved through her involvement in class discussions, archery for four years, attending leadership trips, making new friends and deepening her faith.

Medrano’s plans after graduation are to pursue a business career, starting with an associate’s degree at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville and then transferring to the University of Arkansas. Medrano would like to be an accountant, a field she learned about helping in her family’s business.

“I have worked for several years as an assistant with my dad, helping with payroll and bookkeeping in his company,” Medrano said.

While she has learned a lot on the job, she said she knows a degree could help her in the future.

“Ozark Catholic Academy has shaped and prepared me in various ways and helping me to develop my personality and strengthen my faith,” she said. “I owe a lot of who I am today to OCA. I have learned a lot of skills, such as how to manage responsibilities and organize. My life now has organization since I am mindful of everything around me, and it has driven me to pursue a structured life. Finally, being responsible has allowed me to develop the ability to lead a successful life. Without it, I would find myself lost and unstable. I have developed and will continue to practice these two virtues throughout my life.”

When senior Spencer Warren, 18, first started cheerleading at Sacred Heart School in Morrilton as a sophomore, she admitted she was “nervous to yell,” intimidated to shout out the cheers and give it her all. But three years later, loudly shouting call-back cheers like “Knights are what?” and the crowd shouting back, “Red hot!” is one of her favorite things. The faithful spirit, work ethic and joy she exudes daily is a testament to her Catholic education and her late father’s example.

“Just the joy of it; overall, I’m a happy person,” Warren said of why she loves cheerleading. “I had someone tell me today, ‘You are always smiling.’ Being that light in the school is my favorite part.”

The oldest of two children, Warren and her family converted to Catholicism when she was about 8 years old. She attended St. John School in Russellville before starting at Sacred Heart in fifth grade.

“I’ve always been in that small school environment. Being able to have that family atmosphere, I’ve always enjoyed that,” she said.

In addition to cheerleading, Warren, who has a 3.72 GPA, is involved in several activities including Key Club secretary, class president of Student Council the past two years, softball manager and she’s on the trap shooting team. She has been in 4H throughout her education and became a Eucharistic minister two years ago. Whether cheering or volunteering in the community, her faith is always connected.

“At the end of every ballgame, we join around in a circle and pray the Our Father. It has been one of my favorite things to do,” she said.

That foundation of faith helped her face the death of her father, Jerry Warren, March 16, 2017. He was diagnosed in early 2016 with lung cancer after struggling during a family hike on vacation in Wyoming. He was in remission by the end of the year but was diagnosed with brain and bone cancer in early 2017. Warren said it brought her family of three — mother Trish Henry and younger brother Rowdy Warren — closer because “we were all we had.” The family would pray nightly together.

“I was definitely a daddy’s girl, I’d say. Me and him would always joke about literally everything, and hearing his laugh would make me so happy,” Warren said. “I remember my dad was a worker. He was never sitting down, he was always doing something. One thing we did together was riding horses. He loved riding horses. He really taught me how to be a hard worker and just because something might be rough or not the easiest thing, hard work is an admirable thing. I always want people who describe me to think of me as a hard worker.”

Her work ethic will be helpful as she majors in pre-medicine and minors in business at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville. Warren said she might pursue a career in dermatology.

“I always think about that saying, ‘What would Jesus do?’ So just being able to be kind to people and help people, I love that about the medical field,” she said. “Every day you get to help people.”

Warren said the most important life lesson she learned at Sacred Heart is living out her faith.

“Always keep your faith strong and bring your faith into everything you do,” she said.

Catholic High School senior Alex Flores doesn’t take for granted what his mother sacrificed to ensure her son had a better life.

“My mother immigrated here from Mexico when she was pregnant with me,” he said. “She left her whole family, and it was a really, really tough decision for her to do that. Her main goal was to give me a better life and give me more opportunities rather than how it was in Mexico. That was her main goal. She came here, and she was a single mother. She started working, and she probably worked two or three jobs at one point. She even sent me to Mexico to be with my family so she could work more. Then I returned and she has never stopped working.

“She has always tried to provide as much as she can for me, even though at times the best she could provide is what I needed. And that’s it. She always tried to buy me toys whenever I wanted them. She always made sure there was food on the table, a roof over our heads. To this day, once I matured, I really appreciated that from her.”

For the first 16 years of his life, it was just Alex and his mother Araceli. Two years ago, she got married and brought Flores’ little brother Matthew into the world.

The 18-year-old saw his mother sacrifice again when she decided to put Flores in Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock when he was in sixth grade.

“One of the ladies my mom worked for said I should be challenged more, and she thought that private education would be the best way to give me that challenge. I met friends, and I got the education that challenged me. I went from getting As easily out of elementary school to still getting really good grades, but I was challenged a lot more, and I had to work a lot harder for those grades.”

The First Assembly of God Church member in North Little Rock followed his mother’s example and has a weekend job as a clerk for a local meat market.

“I’ve been there for four years now,” he said. “They accepted me when I first started as a freshman. I wanted to work and get some money, and I wanted to save up for my first car. My mom said it was a good way to teach me a life lesson that you have to work for what you want. She was like, ‘I’m not going to give you your first car. You’re going to earn it yourself.’ That was a lesson I didn’t understand when I was younger. Being older and I have worked for my car, I learned to value it a lot more. I have a different perspective on earning things and working hard.”

Flores’ success at CHS was recognized by the school leadership, and they chose him for the prestigious Msgr. Tribou Scholarship. His success has mainly been in the classroom as well as in JROTC where volunteerism is emphasized.

“That is one of the main things that ROTC brings to the table as well as forming unity within our group,” he said.

This fall Flores will enter Hendrix College to study business.

“A route I might want to go is being an accountant for a few years and then maybe become an analyst at a company,” he said. “Maybe in the future, I might want to start a business. I definitely don’t want to aim for anything low.”

Ozark Catholic Academy held its graduation May 20 at The Jones Center in Springdale. The graduation speaker was Wyoming Catholic College president Glenn C. Arbery. The valedictorian was Mia Passantino. The salutatorian was John Yarnell, son of LeeAnn and Robb Yarnell. He will attend the University of Arkansas Honors College, studying business management.

Other graduates are:

Will Buron
Grace Burney
Jake Estes
Gonzalo Flores
Adrian Gonzalez
Jackson Holmes
Avery Leahy
Brianna Lopez
Perrin Lunsford
Stefany Mendoza
Abigail Perry
Joseph Ramirez
Ritchy Ramirez
Thomas Rocha
Ervin Sanchez
Ceci Vega

Perry Trachier, an entrepreneur from Plano, Texas, and member of the Class of 1987, delivered the commencement speech May 13 in Subiaco Abbey’s inner court. The valedictorian was Aidan Joergens Harris.

The salutatorian was Lukas Gary Rainwater, son of Debbie and Marcus Rainwater. He will study nursing at Arkansas Tech University.

Other graduates include:

Sebastian Alarie-Lacerte
Seunghwan An
Luke Castro
Vince Dang
Luke Faust
Bennett Fletcher
Nevin Furr
Nicholas Gehrig
Korbin Hawkins
Logan Hess
Tanner Komp
Jake Le
Benjamin Lee
Julian Luna
Cesar Medina
John Luke Mize
JulioCesar Preza
Denver Pruitt
Christopher Ramirez
Alexander Rankin
Joseph Rhoads
Robert Russell
Joseph Sparks
Asher Stroh
Giovanni Vargas
Koby Watts
Matthew Wewers
Travis Wolf

Sacred Heart High School held its graduation May 21 in the school auditorium. The valedictorian was Savannah Koonce. The salutatorian was Emma Dold, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca Dold. She will attend Arkansas State University.

Other graduates are:

Gabby Berkemeyer
Jacob Briggler
Webber Hoelzeman
Alexandra Guinn
Parker Jackson
Isabella Moore
Payton Paladino
Avery Pettingill
Jack Poole
Spencer Warren
Emily Zimmerman

Mount St. Mary Academy held its graduation May 22 at Robinson Center in downtown Little Rock. Msgr. Lawrence Frederick, Mount St. Mary Academy chaplain, was the graduation speaker. Co-valedictorians were Megan Denery and Erin Strickland.

The salutatorian was Anna Alyse Patterson, daughter of Cam and Kris Patterson. She is attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in neuroscience with minors in Spanish and political science.

Other graduates are:

Gabriella Christine Angtuaco
Ella Shea Ardoin
Laura Ann Auger
Mackenzie Nicole Bagwell
Madelyn Blair Barnett
Katheryn Ann Bisceglia
Lauren Elizabeth Branson*
Eden Rain Briley
Abigail Elizabeth Brockette
Lillian Nicole Brooks
Julieanne Virginia Brown
Olivia Jaden Bulloch
Olivia Russell Bush
Grace Marie Carman
Yaretzi Quetzalli Carranza
Chloe Michelle Chandler
Alexia Denise Coca
Shelby Marie Coleman
Alexis Jewel Coy
Kendall Grace Cronkhite
Madeline Quinn Dalton
Lilly Grace Davis
Caroline Kelli Dean
Sarah Catherine Dominick
Andi Marie Dunn
Anna Elaine Edwards
Mackenzie Yates Edwards
Olivia Jewell Edwards
Lauren Farris Emerson
Elizabeth Anne Faulkner
Vivian Noel Fischer
Kiley Afton Frost
Ashley Marie Fulmer
Mary James Gann
Catelyn Marie Garcia
Carol Gomez-Rios
Emely Guadalupe Gonzalez
Miriam May Harper
Arantza Itati Harris
Lillian Grace Harrison
Anna Rose Haslauer
Cassidy Elizabeth Hayes
Carley Anne Head
Maya Chapman Henry
Emma Beth Herbold
Abigail Annette Hoover
Emery Elizabeth Horras
Mikah Jo Horton
Riley Grace House
Sophia Frances Hudson
Emily Maria Huerta
Sophia Eileen Jacimore
Jordan Elizabeth James
Elizabeth Carolyn Kehner
Millie Courtney Ketcher
Peyton Elizabeth Lasseigne
Brooke Elizabeth Lee
Katelyn Elizabeth Mabry
Anna Chase Mammarelli
Madigan Marie Marusiak
Moname Efosi Moluwa Matute
Mary Frances Mayo
Grace Elizabeth McKay
Madison Grace McKinney
Catherine Campbell Michaels
Kathryn McCall Morris
Autumn Lily Moss
Summer Patricia Mueller
Marla Sofia Narvaez
Neaven NaSharr Nichols
Grace Elizabeth Parker
Carly Grace Phaup
Hallie Rae Phillips
Anna Elise Polk
Miriam Jane Raborn
Anna Sophia Ratycz
Heather Ashley Rhude
Ellie Rebekah Rockers
Isabelle Rose
Marifer Sanchez
Lauren Clark Satterfield
Ella Marie Schafer
Melody Harper Small
Emma Lauren Smith
Kaylee Jewel Smith
Savannah Nicholas Snape
Eliza Mae Spellins
Anna Grace Stokes
Mya Lanell Straub
Mary Ellis Tedford
Sydney Katherine Thomas
Elizabeth Blair Toland
Sarah Chase Walt
Lauren Elizabeth Walters
Abby Elizabeth Williams
Kayleigh Jane Wynne
Jeslie Alice Yao

 * In loving memory

Catholic High held its graduation May 19 in the school gym. Senior John Nicholas Verdaris was chosen as the master of ceremonies. Speakers were seniors George Porter Callahan and Nicholas Andrew Tarini.

The valedictorian was Tarini. The salutatorian was Verdaris, son of the Rev. Nicholas and Maria Verdaris. He is studying chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas.

Other graduates are:

Christopher Matthew Adams
Ridge Andrew Agar
Reese Lee Amberg
Keaton Paul Armstrong
Preston Bryant Baker
Luke James Beall
George Hayes Bishop
Alex Keith Bobbitt
Evan Mackenzie Booe
Samuel Phillip Bowman
Aidan William Branton
Miles Lennon Browning
Joseph Edward Bulmanski
Benjamin Riley Burkhead
George Porter Callahan
Jonathan Brooks Callahan
Cole Alexander Cameron
Carson Layne Chwalinski
Zackary Colton Clark
Jacob Christopher Coffield
Robert Lawrence Cole III
Eli Martin Coleman
Caleb Christopher Collins
Uziel Reta Cortez
Clark Emerson Cyr
Owen Mitchell Davis
William Christopher Davis
Jonathan Matthew Deen
Gavin Joseph Deeter
Owen Andrew Deeter
Andrew Scott Dillman
Elijah Thomas Dobing
Ian Michael Draeger
Kyle Andrew Eakin
Colton Bram Eichler
Kelechi William Ekeanyanwu
Jacob Glenn Ellis
Michael Patrick Elser
Michael Theodore Esbaner
State James Evers
Beau Santo Ezzi
Alex Flores
Chase Alton Flynn
Colin Allyn Foley
Christopher Patrick Foley Jr.
Elias Jonathan Found
Owen Charles Fraley
Nathan Andrew Freeman
James Paul Freyaldenhoven
Nathan Joseph Ghidotti
Abel Eduardo Giron
Hayden Christopher Grimes
Nicholas Joseph Gunderman
Peter Duc Ha
Jackson Nathaniel Hall
Evan Charles Hargett
John Nicholas Harton
Madre Lanier Hill Jr.
Zachary Jacob Hinkle
Jett Richard Holbert
Carter Rex Izard
Jacob Gardner Jansen
Brooks Staton Johnson
Brennan David Jones
Caden Mark Jones
Garrett Michael Jones
Essa Rami Kassissieh
Joseph Martin Kollar
James Ivy Lasley IV
Luke Wirges Lensing
Seth Michael Long
Robert Ross Maginn
Roberto Joseph Maldonado III
Miles McMinn Marlow
Scott Anthony Massa
Riley Craig Mathiowetz
Kaleb Scott McCain
Tyler Tiffee McDuffie
Morgan David McGeorge
Evan Matthew McKinley
Clark Preston McKinnis
John Theodore McNally
Alex Fernando Mendez
Daniel Mendez
Andrew Hayden Mercer Jr.
Jordan DeWayne Mitchell
Andrew Joseph Moore
John Morgan
Aidan Smith Moses
Eric Murillo
James Bennett Murphy
Lucas Edward Newman
Andrew Loc Nguyen
Noah Benjamin Nolder
Garrett Thomas O'Connor
Reuben C.J. Onyekwelu
Cole James Pace
Harrison Walker Pace
Thomas Andrew Parker
Nathan Sean Peacock
Daniel John Pownall
Alexander McCormick Principe
Ethan Andrew Pruss
Reece David Ransom
Maxx Christian Rathman
Thomas Gregory Reynolds
Evan Corbett Richard
Kevin DeJesus Rivera
Luke John Robbins
Ridge Silas Roberts
Ryan William Robertson
Ryan Christopher Roset
Nathaniel Michael Rousseau
Samuel George Sanders
David Glenn Sheppard
Samuel Cooper Shroyer
Parson Huxley Simmons
Luke James Siria
Chase Alan Small
Ethan Cole Smith
William Francis Stager
Connor James Stahl
Jonathan Raymond Sterba
Davin Scott Strange
Christopher Edward Suffern
William Ryce Thomas
Connor Matthew Thompson
Titus Nathan Thompson
Adam Matthew Thornton
Andrew Maris Travis
Lucas Benjamin Vachon
Owen Baxley Waller
Mason Allen Walsh
Slater Joseph Watkins
William Andrew Weeks
Enqi Wei
Brayden Patrick Weidner
Whit Grayson Wilcox
Spartagus Love Wolfe
Anthony Nicholas Wood
William Chandler Woodell
Phillip Alexander Zawislak
Adam Michael Zimmer