Mustangs Graduate From Immaculate High School On June 1

**News Release Submitted by Immaculate High School**

June 3, 2024

"You’ve got this."

That’s what Immaculate High School’s Principal and Acting President Wendy Neil told graduates after they received their diplomas at Mustang Valley on a sunny Saturday, June 1.

“All of those stupid, silly rules and expectations that you were expected to adhere to were for a purpose,” said Neil, “to shape you into capable, self-sufficient members of society because the world needs you.”

Immaculate has been providing a rigorous Catholic college-prep education to students from 28 communities in Connecticut and New York since 1962. Speakers at the graduation ceremony also included Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, Diocese of Bridgeport Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steven Cheeseman, Immaculate Board of Directors Chairperson Joseph T. Draper and Monsignor Robert E. Weiss.

Dr. Cheeseman told students they must focus on two words - “carry Christ” - in order to put their faith and all they’ve learned at Immaculate to good use. “We ask you a simple question: what good are you going to do with it?” he challenged graduates. “How will you change the world? How will you make the world a better place?”

“Don’t ever walk away from Christ because he will never walk away from you,” Monsignor Robert E. Weiss, Immaculate Board Member Emeritus and former Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Newtown, reminded the graduating Mustangs.

Kevin Bailee of New Fairfield, CT is the Class of 2024’s Valedictorian and Jenna Saidman of Bethel, CT is the Salutatorian. Bailee spoke at the ceremony and told parents, “Your support every single day has helped develop and shape the hearts, minds and souls of the graduates you see before you.” Of the 87 members of the graduating class, 100% of students who applied to colleges and universities were accepted and were offered scholarships and grants totaling $28 million.

This year’s graduates earned acceptances at a host of top schools including Georgetown University, the University of Notre Dame, Boston College, Tufts University, Virginia Tech, Clemson University, Carnegie Mellon University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, Villanova University, University of Florida, New York University, Northeastern University, Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, Wake Forest University and Providence College.

Valedictorian Kevin Bailee will be attending the University of Notre Dame and earned a first prize $50,000 STEM scholarship from The Angeles T. Arredondo Foundation that will pay his college costs. Bailee will major in biomed engineering with a double major in public health. His goal is to change the way the organ transplant list is handled in the United States, after his own struggle with liver disease at age 14 which almost required him to need a transplant. Bailee also received the George Eastman Leadership Award and the IHS Student Council Officers Award, where he served as president. He is a member of the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society, where he also served as president. He played a pivotal role as an attorney on the school’s Mock Trial Team. As the head coach of a T-Ball team, he displayed exceptional leadership skills. Plus, he was one of Immaculate’s Boys Tennis Team captains. Kevin enjoys playing the Trading Card Game Magic in his free time, and is also teaching himself calculus.

Salutatorian Jenna Saidman will also be attending the University of Notre Dame where she plans to study business. She earned a scholarship from The Angeles T. Arredondo Foundation.
Saidman received the Immaculate High School Campus Ministry Senior Leader Award and is also active in Key Club. She was the president of the National Honor Society and is a member of Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, the National English Honor Society, Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society plus the Science National Honor Society. Saidman was a captain of the Immaculate’s Girls Basketball Team and also volunteered as a counselor at the school’s Mustang Basketball Camp. She is a member of the Writing Club and received the Harvard Prize Book Award and the Bowdoin Book Award for her dedication to learning and intellectual curiosity. Her dedication to community service includes two President’s Volunteer Service Awards of more than 100 hours per year. In her spare time, Saidman works as a babysitter and in catering at The Spinning Wheel restaurant in Redding.

William Tucker of Danbury was named Immaculate High School’s Student of the Year for the 2023-24 school year. He will be attending Purdue University and is the captain of Immaculate’s Cross Country and Track Team. Tucker received the award for demonstrating a curiosity for learning, school spirit, moral character, kind-heartedness and determination. He earned an Angeles T. Arredondo Foundation STEM scholarship award and the 2023 Cornell Book Award for outstanding academic performance. He also co-founded and was the co-president for the Bee and Quiz Bowl (Geography Club). Tucker is a member of the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Rho Kappa Social Students National Honor society and made Immaculate’s highest level of honors, Presidential Honors, throughout his high school career. He is one of the school's Top Ten graduating students.

The remaining students rounding out Immaculate’s Top Ten are Rebecca Chory of Danbury who will attend Fairfield University, Ava Fleming of Redding who will attend Georgetown University, Emelia Gibowicz of Danbury who will attend Sacred Heart University, Carly MacKinnon of Danbury who will attend the University of Connecticut, David Mitchell of New Milford who will attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Nicole Radliff of New Fairfield who will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Melanie Riggs of Danbury who will attend the University of Florida.

Giving Back

The Immaculate High School graduating Class of 2024 contributed 4,306 hours to a school-wide total of 20,304 hours of community service this year. Many students were honored and/or received scholarships from local community service organizations and the Diocese of Bridgeport for their service and academic achievements. The Gold Award for performing more than 250 hours of community service this year was awarded to Antonio Guerrero of Danbury and Carly MacKinnon of Danbury. The following seniors received a Silver Award for performing 175-249 community service hours: Bonnie Baille of New Fairfield, Nicole Killackey of Danbury, Sofia Henao-Marin of Danbury, Charles Roman of Danbury and Briana Romano of Bethel. And graduates Vida Caba and Melanie Riggs, both of Danbury, performed 100-175 hours of service to be recognized with a Bronze Award.