Monterey Bay Academy Celebrates Its 55th Annual Graduation

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Monterey Bay Academy celebrated its 55th annual graduation June 4-6, with a class of 61 seniors earning their diplomas as well as several awards and scholarships for leadership and academic achievement.

“We have always worked very hard,” class president Michelle Lara said. “It was great to see so many of my classmates recognized for their long hours of studying.”

That effort showed as the class of 2004 was honored throughout the weekend. Twenty of the seniors graduated with honors (3.0 – 3.49 GPA), 17 with high honors (3.5 – 3.99 GPA) and one student, Yoko Nagayama, graduated with highest honors (4.0 GPA). Several students were also given special awards, including 11 Bank of America Achievement Awards in areas of study from Drama to Science. The commencement speaker, Doug Batchelor of Amazing Facts, also received an award. He was given an honorary MBA diploma.

“Graduation is an amazing experience,” Mona Bascoy, a four-year senior from Rancho Palos Verdes said. “Our class has always been very close and had a lot of good students, but each person made an effort to make our senior year even better. We grew more spiritually this year. That’s why I appreciated the senior huddle the most on graduation day.”

The senior huddle is an MBA tradition that began when principal Bill Keresoma first came to MBA and was the commencement speaker in 1994. Keresoma and the MBA staff take the seniors off to the side for one last session of prayer before they march out as graduates.

“The whole purpose of the huddle is to let our students know that God brought them to MBA and we want them to leave in God’s presence. We continue to stay a family because of Him,” Keresoma said.

As the class of 2004 heads out as graduates, they’ve managed to uphold one more MBA tradition of excellence. Just like the 54 classes that have gone before them, more than 95 percent of the seniors have already made plans for college, with the remaining seniors still deciding on a school.

“We will miss this class for several reasons,” Keresoma said. “This class is fun loving, they hold each other accountable and they know how to work hard. They are a great addition to our alumni family and we hope to see them often.”
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783 San Andreas Road
La Selva Beach, CA 95076-1911
831 728-1481
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Monterey Bay Academy is a co-educational Christian high school owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Monterey Bay Academy is a co-educational Christian high school for boarding and day students, owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. If you or someone you know would like to learn more about Monterey Bay Academy, please contact Nathan Henderson at (831) 728-1481 extension 1221 or by email at info@montereybayacademy.org.