Alex Appleby, right, hugs Principal Sarah Strassburger after being presented with the Principal s Award during the Aspen High School senior awards and local scholarship ceremony on Monday, May 24, 2021, on the AHS turf field. Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times.
It may well be the marquee event of awards season at Aspen High School: Monday night’s senior awards and local scholarship ceremony recognized the accomplishments of the class of 2021 with dozens of honors and funds for college.
All told, 81 seniors walked away with more than $350,000 in college scholarships from nearly 40 local donor groups, according to Susanne Morrison, the administrative coordinator at Aspen High School’s post-secondary counseling department. Students also scored hundreds of thousands of dollars from regional and national awards, some of which include full ride scholarships for all four years of college (see sidebar).