Nicole Adams

While at Gilpin Nicole Adams participated in volleyball, basketball, and track all four years of high school. 

Outside of school, she is busy working as a lifeguard and seasonal sports official at the Gilpin County Rec Center. She greatly values her involvement in athletics during her high school years because of the friendships and memories that were made. She will always carry them with her. In her free time Nicole enjoys camping with her family and traveling. 

Nicole will be attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln next fall as a Ruth Leverton scholar. She will be studying business administration and marketing. She is not sure what she “wants to be” yet but knows her areas of study will open many doors in her interests in leadership, networking, and creativity. 

Nicole says, “I am so excited to be involved in the UNL community and am most excited for the Husker gamedays!” 

Alicia Johnson

This fall, Alicia will be attending the University of Colorado, Boulder to study photojournalism. While in high school she found her passion for photograph and writing. She has even had the pleasure to take senior pictures for some of the past and present Gilpin graduates. She particularly loved going to some of the sporting events to cheer/photograph Gilpin’s talented athletes and capture the special moments that came along with it. Alicia hopes her photography and writing will continue to improve by furthering her formal education, so I can show it off to us all in the future. 

If Alicia wasn’t in the bleachers taking photos for the games, she was on the court. Athletics has been a huge part of her years at Gilpin. During high school, she played volleyball for two years and basketball for all four years. All of the coaches she has worked with throughout high school gave her values and qualities that she plans to display for the rest of her life. Alicia is so thankful that she had a second family that was always there for her, through the good and the bad. Her teammates and coaches pushed her to be the best person and player that she could be. So huge shout out to them! 

It is a very weird and uncertain time right now, and Alicia wants to thank her teachers and the staff for being so supportive during these difficult times. In the beginning of the year Alicia said that she wanted her senior year to fly by, just so she could graduate. She has had plenty of time to reflect on her thoughts at home and realizes that she definitely took the time that she spent with coaches, teachers, and friends for granted. Alicia says, “I never thought I would say this, but I actually really miss going to school.” This is not how she imagined the last few months of her senior year to be. She does think that her Class of 2020 will definitely be remembered.

 Alicia says, “Gilpin has given me a place to learn, grow, and improve for the past 15 years. I have made countless memories in the hallways of Gilpin County School and I will forever be grateful for that. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey!”

 Maddison Kennedy

Gilpin County School provided Maddison with an opportunity she says she can never repay. As a junior she enrolled in Warren Tech to begin hairstyling license classes. This was the start of her career. Her dedication and commitment to the program has allowed her to become a licensed hairstylist by June of 2020. 

Maddison will return to Warren Tech in the fall to continue her education as a nail technician. Upon completing the nail technician courses, she will go to a barber school in 2022 and become a licensed barber. She could have never thought that she would get the opportunity to kickstart a career while in high school.

 Ever since Maddison was young, she always had a passion for doing hair and nails. She loved to play beauty shop with her dolls. That’s when she knew she wanted to go into the Cosmetology industry. 

Throughout her middle school and high school years at Gilpin Maddison volunteered in the concession stand. During her freshman year when she wasn’t volunteering, she was a cheerleader. She joined the cheer squad again as a senior and was chosen to be co-captain.

Although she was only at Gilpin for part of the day, she tried to savor every moment. Maddison credits her teachers and the close community for helping her achieve her goals and contributing in who she has become today. 

Maddison says, “I am so thankful to have such a good support system at home and at school, without all of these people I wouldn’t be where I am today. Living in a small community has taught me the value of strong relationships, reliability, and responsibility. It’s an unusual thing to be able to say that you have graduated from the same school you started going to as a preschooler. Growing up it isn’t something you think about but then it’s there and it’s all over. I wouldn’t change it for the world, because then I wouldn’t be me.” 

Ashley Parkhurst

Ashley began her education at Gilpin School when she was four years old, fourteen years ago. Her experience at the school and in the community has helped form the person she is today.

She would like to thank the teachers, coaches and staff who have been incredibly inspirational to her and continually pushed her to always reach for her dreams. She says that their patience, knowledge, and dedication will always mean a lot to her. 

Ashley will be attending the University of Colorado, Boulder. Here she will be studying Environmental Engineering. Ashley says, “I have always had a passion for helping people and fixing problems in the world. I look forward to my future.”

Sarah Trujillo

Sarah has loved her time and journey at Gilpin County School. Every day was wonderful because she got to spent it with her friends. Most of these friends she has known since they were little girls in Girl Scouts. They did everything together and not only challenged each other inside of the classroom, but also on the court as they played many of the same sports. 

Sarah adds that it has been very hard not being able to spend the last few months of their senior year hand and hand with each other.

One of Sarah’s favorite things about going to school at Gilpin, is how tightly knit the community is. Community members, teachers, coaches, and faculty members have all reached out to her and her fellow classmates to show that they are thinking about us during this hard time and they greatly appreciate that. 

Sarah has taken a hard path academically throughout high school and there were moments where she felt like she couldn’t keep going and just wanted to give up. She says that it was the support of her teachers and coaches that got her through those mental blocks and kept her on the right track.

Sarah was a three sport athlete in high school participating in volleyball, basketball, and track. Being a varsity athlete taught her many life lessons and has turned her into who she is today. She says that coaches pushed her beyond compare and her teammates became a second family. During crunch time, she often spent more time with the team than at home. Being a part of these teams taught her to bounce back from adversity and taught her many life lessons that she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

She would like to say thank you to her friends, family, coaches, and teachers that have supported her throughout the years at Gilpin County School. Sarah says, “While our time together was cut short, I couldn’t have asked to spend it with a better group of people and I will miss you all immensely as I move on to college.”

Lena Warren

Lena says that the times right now are different from what she thought they would be, and she constantly hears, “I’m sorry for your senior year” or “This is not how your senior year was supposed to be.” 

Yes, it is different and difficult, but she says being able to accomplish what she has in these short four years at Gilpin has made up for the last couple of months of her senior year.

Lena is extremely grateful for those who are trying to make their remaining time as special as possible. Lena says, “We as seniors, are immensely spoiled to have such a loving and involved community here in Gilpin.”  

She would like to recognize her teachers, coaches, and family at this time. The teachers have supported her throughout her high school career and continue to do so through these “wacky” times. Lena has so much gratitude for the sacrifices they have made.

She would also like to give a very special thanks to her wonderful coaches at Gilpin and at Clear Creek. She says that these determined, quirky, and lovable coaches have made her senior year not only bearable but unforgettable. They have made her stronger than ever before and have taught her lessons that she can now take on my way to college.

Lena is also thankful to have supportive family members by her side. They have been there for her through the celebrations and the downfalls. Lena says, “I have been lucky to have selfless role models throughout my academic and athletic career.” 

Lena will be attending the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She has not decided on a major yet. She says, “Being registered as undeclared will open up new doors for what I want to do in my adulthood while achieving a golden tan.”

In closing Lena says, “While I will dearly miss my teammates, friends, coaches, and family, you all have set me on the right path to further my academic career. This is not a goodbye but rather a ‘check ya later’. Thank you, Gilpin and everybody in my life, for making my senior year a unique one.”

(Originally published in the April 23, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)