Plymouth High School is proud to announce the valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2016. Lucas Vervynckt has been selected as valedictorian of Plymouth High School’s Class of 2016.
Lucas Vervynckt, son of James & Laura Vervynckt, exudes quiet confidence as a leader in the senior class. He is driven and determined in meeting all goals that he sets for himself. This is evident by the high level of academic, extracurricular, and volunteerism that is a part of his everyday life.
Vervynckt secured the valedictorian honor with a grade point average of 4.34 and is ranked 1 in the class of 248 students. He has earned an Academic Honors Diploma and has excelled in upper level academic classes that Plymouth High School has to offer. During his 4 year high school career, Vervynckt has received numerous academic awards, including being inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame this year for his involvement in both the World Language and Mathematics departments; he was also recognized for being in the elite Top 5% of his senior class of 2016 and received the Academic Excellence Award.
While attending Plymouth High School, Vervynckt was a proud member of the American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs. He is certified fluent in Spanish and last summer through Indiana University Honors Program in Foreign Languages – IUHPFL, Vervynckt was awarded the opportunity to study abroad in Mérida, Mexico for a 7-week program.
He is a four-year member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Varsity Club and has participated in Spell Bowl, Bridge Bust, the L.E.A.D. club which stands for Leaders Eliminating Alcohol and Drugs. Throughout his time at PHS Vervynckt has been active in the Speech Club as well as Advanced Theatre Arts participating in numerous plays.
Vervynckt is the senior class president and the secretary of the PHS club Business Professionals of America, involved in the Interact Club, and a student manager for the PHS Girls tennis team. As an active 4-year athlete of the PHS Tennis team, Vervynckt helped the team earn the title of sectional winners in 2015.
Due to his noticeable strengths on the tennis courts, during his junior year, the Indiana High School Athletic Association nominated Vervynckt for the National High School Spirit of Sport Award, an honor sponsored annually by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Vervynckt was awarded the Eugene and Florence Stanley Scholarship, Richard F. and Betty J. Heiser Scholarship, Knights of Columbus Scholarship, and he received the Valedictorian Scholarship Grace College & Theological Seminary where Vervynckt will study accounting this fall.
The Vervynckt family has quite an extensive history in earning the title of top in their class at Plymouth High School. Three of Lucas’ brothers, Jacob Vervynckt (2005), Todd Vervynckt (2010), and Gabe Vervynckt (2013) were all awarded the valedictorian honor in their noted respective PHS classes. Stacy Vervynckt, his sister, was awarded salutatorian in her graduating class of 2008.
Vervynckt, the second youngest of eight children, says he has high expectations to fulfill thanks to the accomplishments of his older siblings. He says one day he would like to own his own accounting firm, but whether he will pursue that route he has yet to determined.
Outside of the classroom Vervynckt is a proud parishioner of St. Michael Catholic Church in Plymouth where he’s an altar server. For the past 2 years, he has also been a counselor for SMILE Christian Retreat.
Plymouth High School’s Salutatorian – Rachel Rettig
The administration at Plymouth High School is equally honored to announce that senior Rachel Rettig is the salutatorian for the Class of 2016.
Rettig is the daughter of William and Rebecca Rettig of Plymouth. She has a grade point average of 4.338 and is ranked 2ndin the class of 248 graduating students. Rettig has respectfully earned an Academic Honors Diploma.
Throughout her high school career she was active in multiple clubs including the Sunshine Club, also known as the Sunshine Society. Throughout the year the Sunshine girls enjoy planning and participating in sisterhood events as well as philanthropic activities.
As a member of the Pep Club you could catch Rettig cheering PHS teams on to victory, as she proudly displayed sportsmanship-like conduct. She is proud of her drug and alcohol free lifestyle, which is one of the reasons she is passionate about being a member of the L.E.A.D. club. The acronym stands for Leaders Eliminating Alcohol and Drugs in our society.
Rettig was on the PHS Prom Committee and she helped raise funds by volunteering with various fundraising events that defrayed the cost of attending prom for the student body.
Outside the classroom, Rettig enjoys volunteering her time at various organizations throughout Marshall County. She is a proud member of Plymouth First United Methodist Church and looks forward to participating in a biweekly bible study with two wonderful women from Crossroads Church.
This spring, Rettig was inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame for her involvement in both the Social Studies and English departments within the Weidner School of Inquiry, which she attended for all four years while at Plymouth High School.
She received the Academic Excellence Award this year for being in the elite Top 5% of the senior class of 2016.
Rettig received the Purdue Alumni Club of Marshall County Scholarship, the Samuel Elliot Perkins IV Memorial Scholarship, and the Webster Elementary PTO Scholarship.
Come this fall she will attend Purdue University where she will study Computer Information Technology.
The Plymouth Community School Corporation administration, along with the Plymouth High School faculty and staff would like to congratulate these two exceptional students on all of their hard work and accomplishments.
Vervynckt and Rettig both took advantage of Plymouth High School’s Advanced Placement and Dual College Credit Courses. Vervynckt graduates today with a minimum of 30 college credits earned and Rettig has a minimum of 24 college credits she earned while attending PHS.
