Everett High class of ’63 raises $250K for graduating Seagulls

EVERETT — This week is the 60th reunion for the Everett High School Class of 1963.

They are declining in numbers, but not in moxie.

Before the partying started, many went to the senior (as in high school senior) awards ceremony Wednesday to give $12,000 in scholarships to two graduating Seagulls.

Who knows what they may cook up at this year’s reunion.

Ten years ago, at their 50th reunion, classmate June Remboldt Aprille proposed a memorial scholarship fund.

“We had great teachers, great advisers. We had a community that supported the school,” she said. “I said, ‘Let’s say thank you by paying forward.’”

The goal was $25,000 over time. That evening, 10 years ago, they raised $37,000.

The account total grew to over $250,000 with investments and donations.

“Many classmates continue to make annual contributions or maybe in honor of someone who has passed away,” co-chair Peter Newland said. “And that is accelerating. We are all 78 years old or thereabouts. We are in the zone.”

The graduating class had about 425 members.

“We are down to about 300 or so,” he said.

They keep tabs on each other.

“Statistically, there should be more of us gone,” Aprille said.

The reunion is billed as “don’t miss this one,” Newland said.

“They’re going to get fewer going forward. It’s what Shakespeare warned us about, we’re facing oblivion at some point,” he said.

The class was close-knit then and now.

“The early ’60s were prosperous times, a good time for young people,” Newland said. “There was a lot of optimism in the country and we came together. None of us had cell phones, we all talked to each other. We had dances every Friday night. You used to be able to drag Colby. It was a good time for America, a good time for Everett and we remember it fondly.”

The scholarship fund is administered and invested by the Community Foundation of Snohomish County, of which Newland was among the founders.

“We’ve set this up so this will go on whether there are any class members alive or not. That’s the purpose of the endowment,” he said.

To date, over $50,000 in 15 scholarships has been awarded by the class. The balance at the end of 2022 was about $210,000.

Recipients have headed to trade schools, community colleges and universities.

“We are looking to help graduates fulfill their dreams and do something good,” Newland said. “They don’t have to have a certain grade-point or go to a certain college. We don’t have a lot of rules.”

A scholarship committee chooses the students, said Everett High’s college and career specialist Jen Selders.

The awards started with an annual $3,000 scholarship for one student, then expanded to two students a year, increasing to keep pace with inflation.

It was supposed to be $4,200 this year.

“A classmate stepped forward and said, ‘Sixty years is a big deal. Why don’t we do $6,000?’” Newland said. That classmate kicked in the dough.

This year’s recipients are Kaylee Popkins and Jorge Solorzano.

Kaylee plans to attend Everett Community College to become a sign-language interpreter. She has a younger sister who is deaf and has wanted to be an interpreter since she was 11. At Everett High, Kaylee is in the advanced leadership class, Chinese Club and choir president. In her spare time she enjoys diamond painting. She has a 3.49 GPA.

Jorge is going to the Universal Technical Institute in Orlando, Florida, for the automotive technician program. He then plans to enter UTI’s Ford F.A.C.T (Ford Accelerated Credential Training) followed by their Porsche program. Jorge spent two years in Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center’s welding program and is the program’s student president. He is the first person in his family to attend college. He has a 3.72 GPA.

Aprille and Newland handed out the awards at Wednesday’s event.

“It brings back so many memories of the people who helped me,” Aprille said. “I was from a poor family. I was a good student, but I didn’t think there was any way I could go to college. My adviser said, ‘Wait a minute. You can get scholarships.’ And so you have to say thank you for that.’”

Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.