DATE: Thursday, June 26, 1997               TAG: 9706260350

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education 

SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   31 lines

SCHOLARSHIPS FLOW INTO CATHOLIC HS

Think of the recent graduates of Catholic High School in terms of numbers: Class of 1997, 100 students, 87 colleges and universities, $3,068,558 in scholarships.

That's right. Count it up. Millions of dollars. About half the students in the class, which graduated Monday, earned scholarship money, according to Lisa Hamlet, the school's director of development.

It is the most scholarship money ever earned by a single class at Catholic High, Hamlet said. They thought they were doing well last year when a class of 63 students brought in $1.7 million.

Awards for academic merit, drama and athletics were among the scholarships given to this year's class. Valedictorian Jeremiah Ronquillo was offered academic scholarships to Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame as well as Navy, Army and Air Force ROTC scholarships.

Students Jillian Woods and Jonathan Ing earned Archdiocesan Scholarships, which provide four years of full tuition at the Catholic University of America.

At the rate the school's going, next year's senior class might need to add a page to the graduation program just to list all their honors.

``We keep getting bigger and better,'' Hamlet said. KEYWORDS: SCHOLARSHIP CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

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