St. John's recently recognized its Senior Class of 2012 at the June 3 Youth Sunday service.  Here is a look at the 6 graduating seniors who will be moving onto the next chapter of their journeys:

Allie DeCastro will be graduating from Bellevue High School, class of 2012.  She has maintained a 4.0 GPA and has taken 9 AP classes.  Her school leadership roles include National Honor Society Officer, Environmental Club President, Link Crew Commissioner, High School Swim Team Captain and Foreign language Academic Coach.  Outside of school, she has participated in Girl Scouts for 12 years, interned at an Environmental Education Center, volunteered as a Camp Counselor and worked as a Lifeguard and Swim Instructor.  Her awards include Wolverine Guard for outstanding community service, the 2011 E3 Washington Award of Excellence in the Student Leader category and Most Inspirational Swimmer at Triangle Swim Club. Allie has attended St. John's since infancy and was baptized here on November 6, 1994.  She feels very blessed to have been part of the St. John's church community.  Highlights include the 2009 Crop Walk and 2010 Mission Trip to Guatemala. Her future plans are to attend Stanford University, Class of 2016, where she will develope her faith on campus.  Allie hopes to enroll in the Peace Corps before completing graduate school.  

Since he was an infant, Brad Leinweber attended St. John's.  While at St. John's he was actively involved with Sunday school, Blue Angels, Vacation Bible Camp, the Christmas pageant and Youth Group.  He was a member of the Guatemala Mission Team in both 2009 and 2010 where he helped build three houses. Brad will graduate from Eastlake High School where he was involved with athletics including football. He is also very involved with Martial Arts and has earned several black belts. He plans to attend Lake Washington Institute of Technology in the fall where he will study motorcycle service technology.

During his sophomore year at Redmond High School, Charlie Merrill played cello in the orchestra and was a part of DECA.  For his junior and senior years, he attended Bellevue College as a participant in the Running Start program.  While there he was a staff writer for the college newspaper, The Jibsheet.  Charlie will be attending Bellevue College next year to finish his Associates degree.

Lucy Reilly has attended and been supported by St. John's her entire life.  She went through preschool here and participated in the Blue Angels then the teen worship team until she was 14.  Lucy participated in youth group and went on the mission trip to Guatemala in 2010.  She is graduating from Bellevue High School with 5 AP classes and hundreds of hours of studying behind her!  Lucy will attend the University of Washington in the fall with plans to go into medicine and one day be a radiologist. Lucy says, "Thank you for all of your love and support!"

Sarah Smith attended St. John's her entire life, and has been involved in Sunday school, Blue Angels, Christmas Pageants, First Communion, and Confirmation. She is graduating from Juanita High school, where she has been involved with orchestra, Honor Society, Key Club, Hot Dog USA Jump rope, and the yearbook, where she was co-editor. As a Running Start student, Sarah has taken 2 years of part time classes at Cascadia Community College for both high school and college credit. Outside of school, volunteering at a local horse rescue has been a huge part of her life.  Sarah will attend Carroll College in Helena, Montana in the fall with plans to double major in Psychology and Anthrozoology, in hopes of becoming involved in the field of equine assisted therapy. 

There are several things that Nathan Strick has done for St. John's over the years. He was an acolyte for six years and played bass for the Christmas pageant multiple times. He also played with Hosanna on several occasions and was recently part of the string group that played for the Easter service.  Nathan is graduating from Lake Washington High School where he maintained a GPA over 3.7. While there he played for both the Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble. Once every year the whole music department goes on a trip to a festival. These trips were always great fun and the groups also bring back memories and many awards. The orchestra also went on a yearly retreat to Leavenworth which never disappointed. Lastly during the summer Nathan has attended Camp Cross, the youth camp for the Diocese of Spokane.    

Congratulations to all 6 of our graduating seniors!