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Campion Academy joyfully celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2025 during its graduation weekend, held May 23–25. With 50 graduates, this year’s class is the largest Campion has seen in over a decade and is distinguished by its rich diversity and talents in both the performing arts and athletics.
The celebration began Friday evening with a heartfelt parent tribute, where students expressed their gratitude in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Indonesian, and Swahili—reflecting the cultural richness of the graduating class. The Class of 2025 included eight international students from Brazil and China, as well as students from six different U.S. states and many from recent immigrant families. Sunday’s commencement featured inspiring messages from Class President Toby Quillin and guest speaker Pastor Taurus Montgomery, who had led our Week of Worship in March. Montgomery encouraged graduates to live as “Champions,” explaining, “You spent your high school years here at Campion, but as you walk into life, God is calling you to live as a Champion—and the only difference between the two is the letter ‘H.’” He went on to define “H” as heart, humility, hope, habits, heroes, heaven, and the Holy Spirit. Approximately 90% of graduates have been accepted to college and plan to continue their education this fall. Union Adventist University awarded $1.832 million in scholarships to Campion graduates. Many students will attend Union or other Seventh-day Adventist universities across the country, while others have chosen local and state institutions. Throughout the weekend, students showcased their musical talents in various performances, culminating in a commencement performance by Campion’s select choir, Koinonia. During the ceremony, several students were honored for their academic excellence, leadership, and commitment to community service. Campion Academy is proud of the Class of 2025 and looks forward to seeing how they continue to grow and serve in their next chapter.
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The seniors were celebrated at the Campion Church service on Sabbath, donning their robes while leading out in the service. Former Principal Donavan Reeder delivered the sermon, encouraging the students to find their worth in Jesus as they continue on their journey.
Last night was filled with emotion and gratitude as our graduating seniors took a moment to honor the most important people in their lives — their families.
As they prepare to step into a new chapter, each senior shared heartfelt messages of thanks, recognizing the love, support, and guidance of their parents and siblings. The graduates took a few moments with their families to share roses, hugs, and a few tears. 🌹🎓💛. The evening ended with the figurative passing of the torch to the incoming senior class with a candle-lit worship song. Last Saturday night, Campion students were celebrated for all the hard work they put in this year. Awards were given out for academics, sports, and even attendance. High achieving students received medals and pins. A few even walked away with $100 bills for having perfect attendance. It was an awesome night to recognize all the effort and dedication that went into making this year a success.
Each teacher took a moment to recognize students who had demonstrated superior skills in their subjects. Many students from each grade proudly received medals, pins, and certificates for their academic achievements. One of the people acknowledged for the sports awards was Izhuchi Nwankwo, a junior, who broke a school record for most blocks in a game and tied with the record for most blocks in a season, a remarkable achievement that reflects his hard work and dedication on the court. Damaris Lopez Morquecho and EJ Woy received the athletes of the year awards, while Brayden Marroquin walked away receiving both the soccer and basketball MVP awards. Another proud moment came when Marcela Zuniga became the first Campion student to receive a special award from the Desmond Doss Foundation. This prestigious recognition honors her outstanding character and her selfless dedication to helping others. She was nominated by the staff for this award because of her strong character and the way she embodies the values of Desmond Doss. Along with the honor, she received a $1,000 college scholarship. “It’s important to be different, to stand out, and to reflect the character of Christ,” Marcela shared.” Vashty Segovia Santos, Student News Team Spanish students showcase language and cultural skills through projects and church service5/15/2025 The Spanish class students put their skills into action this past week by presenting cultural projects to the student body and leading the worship service at Greeley Hispanic Adventist Church.
Students in Spanish I gave presentations in the chapel, where they had the option to either film a cooking video, learn and perform a song in Spanish, or recreate a piece of art from a Spanish artist. Two groups opted for live performances: Marc and Izuchi sang Adiós Amor, and Garry, Jillian, and Phoebe performed Piel Canela on stage. After the presentations, students sampled a wide variety of traditional dishes featured in the cooking videos, including tostadas, flan, pupusas, churros, horchata, and homemade paletas (Mexican ice cream bars). “I was very impressed by the food this year,” said senior Janey Padilla Reyes. “I felt like it was very authentic.” On Sabbath, the Spanish II class, along with a few native Spanish speakers, traveled to the Greeley Spanish SDA Church for a SWAT trip, where they led the entire church service in Spanish. The program included praise music, a children’s story, special music, prayer, scripture reading and a sermon delivered by senior Damaris Lopez Morquecho. Senior Toby Quillin, who participated in multiple parts of the service, reflected on the experience, “Going on the Spanish SWAT trip was quite enjoyable, even though it took a lot of planning and practice. I was a part of the praise team as well as the special music and sang Eres Mi Protector (My Hiding Place). I also gave a prayer. I looked over the script many times so I wouldn’t mess up the pronunciation. It was very fun to put my knowledge of the language to the test.” Alexandra Cordoba, Student News Editor This past Wednesday the Sophomore class went on the annual biology trip to Moab, Utah, led by Erica Franklin, science teacher. They explored the ruins of Mesa Verde, the arches, and other wonders in the area.
The first stop was Mesa Verde National Park where they were able to take a tour of the ancient balcony house and explore other ruins in the park. For the remainder of the trip they camped at “Hittle Bottom Campground” where they bonded over lively discussions around the campfire and huddled up in tents. Heidi Vasquez-Hernadez expressed, “It was fun getting to know each other better outside of the classroom setting, while sharing experiences at Moab.” Every evening Erik Stenbakken, one of the sponsors on the trip, gave inspirational talks about how to finish the race strongly in our spiritual lives. Aome Angeles stated, “His talks gave me a different perspective on life and made it feel more purposeful.” On the second day, the students rafted down the Colorado River where they had water fights and swam in the river. After rafting, the students worked on a class project measuring the water from the river and identified plants on hikes. On one of the hikes, the group encountered a waterfall and got to go under it. Merlina Resendiz shared, “After a hot day it was nice to take a break and play in the waterfall. It was relaxing and peaceful and it felt like a nice reset.” The students all hiked to the delicate arch on the last day and then split up into different groups to explore various trails of the national park. Elin Sorensen related, “It was fun hiking with my classmates and getting to talk to them while being outside in nature.” After a trip of exploration and bonding the group made it back to Campion on Sunday evening. Abigail Brown, Student News Team After returning from break, the Campion students had special moments of spiritual connection, learning and reflecting during the Week of Worship. Each day featured a staff praise team, inspiring messages, and creative presentations prepared by the students themselves around the theme “Rooted in Christ.”
Pamela Lah, junior student said “Week of Worship was quite fun. I got to be a part of the skit with the junior class. I enjoyed seeing students who had been shy take part in different ways during our day. It was fun watching everybody, especially the skits and seeing different points of views”. The program began on Tuesday with the freshmen class, who gave an engaging presentation on the theme Rooted in Identity. They included a song performed by Natalie Bryant, a well-crafted skit and a moving testimony from Chris Davis. On Wednesday, it was the sophomores focused on the theme Rooted in Scripture.They shared a skit, music performed by Elin Sorensen and Benjamin Nelson, and the heartfelt testimonies of Aome Angeles and Abigail Brown. On Thursday, the juniors took to the stage with the theme Rooted in Community, which included an original song composed by Evie Lange, skits, testimonies and messages from Justin Ticonuwu and Addison Gann. With the theme Rooted in Mission, the seniors closed the week on Friday with a humorous skit based on the story of Jonah and music performed by the senior girls of Koinonia. Damaris Lopez shared her personal experiences of ways she was able to witness as a Literature Evangelist. Toby Quilin, senior, said “It was fun to act in the modern remake of the story Jonah as well as telling an object lesson about honeyguides and honey badgers. The special music that was sung also portrayed our theme of mission really well. This is our last week of worship as seniors and I think everyone did a great job bringing us closer to Jesus.” Gabriel Costa, Student News Team The Campion Academy Music Department had their last two concerts over the weekend. On Friday night, they performed a sacred concert and on Saturday night they had their annual Pops Concert to wrap up the school year. The seniors from each group were recognized and received a pin. Students also received other awards of excellence for their leadership and outstanding performance. Keaton Drake, senior, stated, “It’s kind of sad thinking that this was my last Pops Concert and that I’m not going to play in the same group with my friends, but I’m also really happy about how far we’ve all come. It’s been a blessing playing in a band because I never thought I would.” Naomi Fernandez, Music Director, commented, “From improved sight reading to articulation to vowel shaping to the balance and blend of each group, I couldn’t be more proud of the progress in each ensemble. Our final concerts were a testament to their dedication, hard work, and personal musicianship. While I will miss our seniors immensely, I am also excited to see what we can accomplish in the future!” Rodolfo Segawa, Student News Team Around 120 students, staff, and members of Campion Church donned hair nets and gloves to put together 21,120 packages of cinnamon oatmeal for the nonprofit, Harvest Pack. The meals created will go to local food banks to help those in need.
Addison Gann, Student Outreach Director, took a step of faith in planning this event, as she also had to raise funds and coordinate many different aspects of the event. “I think the biggest way I saw God leading this project was that there were some complications with the venue, and at one point, I didn’t have a place to host the meal packing event, which was a week and a half away! But God reminded me that He was the one leading this event and the HMS gym opened up as an option. We were able to set up in their gym and it actually turned out even better than my original plan!” Gann furthered, “I thought people would enjoy it, but students and church members had an even better time than I thought!” The Senior Class of 2025 had their last journey together in Florida where they spent time on the beach, visited the attractions, and enjoyed spending time with each other before graduation.
The class stayed at the Florida Teen Missions International in Merritt Island where they spent their time relaxing, swimming, or exploring on the first day. The following day, the class went to Cocoa Beach, which was only a 20 minute drive from the camp. They spent the day enjoying the gorgeous views, swimming in the ocean, and tanning in the warm weather. Josh Makizimana shared, “It was a lot of fun because we got to boogie board, relax, and hang out with the class without the stress of school work”. The next day the seniors headed to Universal Studios, experiencing one of the most popular attractions in the world. Claire Jorgensen said, “It was so fun to go to Universal with everyone. All the rides were fun, but what made it more fun was experiencing it with my friends. My friends and I went on this one kids ride, and it ended up being nothing like we expected. Universal is very diverse and has so many different things to do, but doing it with your friends makes it even more fun”. On Friday, the seniors visited the Kennedy Space Center and learned many things about NASA and space. The class took the day to relax at the Teen Missions International camp on Sabbath. There were many activities set up including canoeing, hiking, and climbing on a rope’s course. The day started and ended with worship services that were provided by students in the class. After sunset, the students headed to Gaters N Golf where they played mini golf and drove go-karts. The famous Daytona beach was next on the agenda. Like Wednesday the seniors spent the day in the waters and walking the boardwalk while some daredevils rode on the giant slingshot. On the way back, the class ate at an Asian Buffet, where there was endless sushi and desserts. Before flying back to Colorado Monday evening, the class went to the ICON Park Complex in Orlando, Florida. They were able to visit the Sea Life aquarium, and Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Afterwards, they ate at Chuys, a Mexican restaurant that was walking distance from the complex. The senior class arrived back to school on Monday night, ending their adventure in Florida and coming back to Campion Academy even closer than before the trip. “I got to talk with people that I don’t usually hang out with and get to know them more before we graduate,” shared Alexandra Cordoba. “This trip really helped me to bond with my class and become closer with everyone.” Olivia Uphold, Student News Team |
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