Sedona Red Rock High School held its annual scholarship awards ceremony at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on May 19, with representatives from 26 organizations giving out certificates for the scholarships the students earned.

For a full photo gallery of the event click here.

“Tonight, we are awarding $110,000 in scholarships to 34 amazing students,” Principal Heather Isom said. “This does not even include their college scholarships, and this evening would not exist without you, our generous donors. We can’t thank you for making such a difference in the lives of our seniors.”

The following students have been accepted to college:

■ Arizona State University: Amy Brefeld, Justin Cosgrove, Yemayasil Guadarrama, Adriana Lazalde Beltran, Matija McGrath, Israel Montanez, Daniel Ortiz Gadberry, Larry Palmer, Valentina Ramos Pauli, Yonas Rahman, Sierra Williams, Angi Yin

■ Colorado State University: Sharadevi Abrahamson Wolvekamp. Wolvekamp, who will study equine science on a pre-vet track this fall and received a $500 scholarship from P.E.O. Chapter CM in Sedona.

“The interview committee was impressed with Sharadevi’s focus and commitment to her goals,” presenter Karen Barrow said. “She loves working with horses, and has made her goal in life one day to become an equine veterinarian specializing in reproductive science. She hopes to run her own business or organization that works with and for horses and large animals. She also wants to train and ride as [a] professional equestrian. She has been up as early as 4 a.m. to ride before she goes to school … while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.”

Presenter Terre Hackett said that Wolvekamp was also the first applicant and awardee in the last two years for the Rio Verde Roverettes equestrian club’s $1,000 scholarship.

■ Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University: Ashley Calogero. Calogero has received three scholarships totaling $196,000 to pursue studies in global security and intelligence with the goal of becoming an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force.

■ Northern Arizona University: David Arizmendi, Ramon Betancourt, Laura Guerra, Erick Guerra Vasquez, Jaden Kuhn, Katrina Le, Yanixa Lopez, Axel Martinez, Nic McAtee, Kaiden Mejia, Daisy Nez, Alana Schrader, Aiden Stimple, Abel Villa

■ University of Pennsylvania: Emily Frey. As the class of 2025 valedictorian, Frey received the SRRHS Booster Club’s scholarship along with several other awards including awards from the Sedona Elks Club, the Foster Friess Scholarship and the Rotary Club of Sedona.

■ Yavapai College: Esmeralda Carreno, Giovanni Diaz Rodriguez, Lorena Flores, Logan Kuhn, Jose Mendoza

Jaiden Pallarez will be enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps and was presented with a certificate for the Foster Friess Military Scholarship and, from Sedona Area Veteran and Community Outreach, a USMC flag that was flown at the local military park for the last six months.

Organizations and individuals presenting awards included the Sedona-Oak Creek Canyon Lions Club, the Sedona Elks Club No. 2291, the Asian Classics Institute, Lew Hoyt, Coffee Pot Restaurant, Patty Herrman-Juda, Olsen’s Grain, P.E.O Chapter CM, P.E.O Star, PFLAG of Sedona, Pinnacle Bank, the Rotary Club of Sedona, RVR Equestrian Club, Salt River Material Group, Sedona 30, SAVCO, Sedona Bell Rock Kiwanis, Sedona Bridge Club, Sedona Gem & Mineral Club, SRRHS Booster Club, Sedona Swim Team, West Sedona School PTA and the Yavapai County Mounted Sheriff’s Posse.

New for 2025 was the Susan Simon Leadership Award in memory of Simon, a former WSS principal who died on April 28, 2024. Abel Villa was presented with the inaugural $1,000 scholarship to pursue a degree in elementary education at NAU.

“We were kind of told or warned that nobody’s going into education anymore, so … we’re really excited to offer this scholarship to Abel,” Simon’s colleague Carol Copp said.

The Coffee Pot Restaurant presented a $1,500 scholarship for a bilingual student who maintains a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to Yanixa Lopez, who also received $1,000 from Pinnacle Bank to pursue a nursing degree at NAU.

“We are honored to present Alana Schrader with a $1,000 scholarship,” Pinnacle Bank Branch President Mark Tufte said. “Alana completed seven advanced placement classes while also balancing a job, high school swim team, Student Council, Interact Club and National Honor Society. Alana, your commitment to education is admirable, and we hope you will engage your future students with a lot of ‘Alana fun facts.’”

Connecting the students to the donors starts every year starting in January, counseling secretary Teresa Lamparter said.

“We meet with the seniors when school starts to let them know this is going to be coming up, to get prepared, to get their resumes together, to get their letters of recommendation together. So we start pretty early, and then I just hound them,” counseling secretary Teresa Lamparter said. “I love that it’s a community, because every donor is a part of our community … Sometimes teenagers get a bad rap, but we’ve got some terrific kids. They volunteer, work hard, and it’s a special night that they all come together.”