Students in Lindbergh High School’s 64th graduating class were awarded 713 scholarships with a monetary value of $18.9 million, Principal Eric Cochran said during the school’s Class of 2017 graduation ceremony, which took place Tuesday, May 30, at Chaifetz Arena.

Of the 504 graduates, 91 percent will attend college, 1 percent will enroll in schools of advanced training, 2 percent will serve in the military and 4 percent will enter the workforce, according to a news release. Two percent are undecided.

Senior speakers Tessa Sottile and Rami Issawi addressed their classmates with humor and heart, noting how the Class of 2017 has come of age in the era of Snapchat and selfies, and that collectively they have served the community well during their time at Lindbergh through events such as Special Olympics.

“Wherever you end up next year, I guarantee you will be a little more … or a lot more … independent than you are now,” Sottile said. “So let’s give it up to the best parents a class could ever ask for, and thank you also to Lindbergh and all of your faculty, for your undying dedication to us.”

“This class is so supportive of one another, and we give so much when called upon” Issawi said, closing his speech with a quote from Robert H. Schuller. “Remember that problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.”

Once again this year, LHS was ranked among America’s best high schools by U.S. News and World Report and the Washington Post — with good reason. In this year’s class, 254 students were awarded 713 scholarships, including 53 Missouri Bright Flight Scholarships; 23 athletic scholarships; and six music, theatre and arts scholarships. Thirty-seven percent of graduates are A+ Scholarship candidates.

The Class of 2017 also includes six National Merit Finalists, six National Merit Semifinalists, seven National Merit Commended Students and 18 International Baccalaureate Diploma candidates.