NEW ORLEANS — Every single 2022 St. Augustine High School graduate was accepted into a college or university and they broke a school record in scholarships. The 100 St. Aug grads were awarded a combined $9.2 million in scholarships.
"When I heard the $9.2 million I was excited, wasn’t surprised because I knew we could do it," said St. Aug graduate Tre'Kevin Ellis.
Of the 100 graduates, 99 are heading to a college or university and one is joining the military.
"I felt proud about that because young Black men, people usually doubt us and I just appreciate all the money and scholarships," Ellis said. "Everyone worked so hard for it fighting adversity with COVID and Ida."
Ellis has a full ride to LSU and will major in pre-med biology.
"I want to either be an anesthesiologist or a physicians assistant," Ellis said.
Dylan Devezin is heading to Notre Dame on a scholarship to study business management hoping to one day work as a sports agent.
"It was exciting for both me and my parents. They paid $40,000 during the course of me being here and now they have to pay less than that for me to get an education at one of the top schools in the country," Devezin said.
The scholarships soared into St. Mary's Academy too. They've had a 100 percent college acceptance rate for the past 20 years. This year was the schools smallest class since 1930. You wouldn't know it based on the huge scholarships they received as a group.
"As a group we were awarded $5.6 million in scholarships," Valedictorian Sariah Alridge said.
The $5.6 million in scholarships was awarded between the 19 graduates.
"A lot of people doubted us like, 'y'all are such a small class,' but we did that," graduate Joy Swain said.
Alridge was awarded $1 million in scholarships. With dreams to work as a dermatologist, she's heading to Howard University in the fall.
"Where I will be a pre-med biology major and hope to get into medical school afterwards," she said.
Swain is attending Dillard University to major in nursing with a $500,000 in scholarships.
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