Graduation 2023: Dignan, Perez take top honors at Berryville

RHarvey@CarrollCoNews.com

It’s safe to say Jack Dignan and Elizabeth Perez made the most out of their time as students at Berryville High School.

The two juggled schedules filled with extracurricular activities and participated in many school organizations, all while excelling in classwork packed with advanced placement courses worth college credit. So, it’s only fitting that the two will be in the spotlight when they address their classmates as valedictorian and salutatorian at the school’s graduation ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at the Bobcat Sports Complex.

While proud of their accomplishments, they’re also proud of each other.

“We mentioned the last day of school that we had a lot of classes together and how we couldn’t believe it was going to end now,” Perez, the BHS salutatorian, said about Dignan, the valedictorian. “If there’s one deserving person to be called val, it’s Jack. He works really hard, has so much on his plate and still does so well.

“I’m really proud to be represented by him but I’m also proud of what he’s accomplished.”

They helped each other along the way, Dignan said.

“We’ve taken a lot of classes together and have helped each other out with school stuff,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of our AP classes the last three years. We never really viewed it as a rivalry. It was more of just the both of us are going to finish one or two and that’s what we were going for.”

VALEDICTORIAN

Jack Dignan

For Dignan, becoming Berryville’s valedictorian was a mission-accomplished moment.

“It’s been my goal all throughout high school,” he said. “My grades have always been good, but I wanted to try to be the best because I like to win. I just worked hard … and always was able to manage school with sports and other things. It all worked out for me.”

On top of keeping his class-leading grade point average, Dignan kept a busy schedule as a member of the school’s golf, baseball and basketball teams. He also was president of both student council and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“It was challenging, honestly, especially during golf season,” Dignan said of his busy schedule. “Golf matches can take five or six hours, and if we’re playing an hour or two away, we might not get home until 11 p.m. at night.

“I just got to a point where I could prioritize what I needed to do each day during school, and when I get home, I would put in the extra hour and sacrifice a little sleep. I don’t know that everybody else likes to put that much emphasis on their academics, but I did. It didn’t come easy, but it’s rewarding now.”

Dignan plans to attend the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and major in education. His goal is to one day return to BHS as a history teacher.

“My parents definitely required me to have good grades when I was growing up.” he said. “They taught me to work hard and if I tried hard in school, I could save some money in college. Sure enough, I made good grades and got good test scores so I’m able to go to college for pretty cheap.”

Along with his parents, Darin and Emily, Dignan said he credits two of his coaches, Brent Compton and Shawn Caldwell, for helping instill his work ethic.

“They’ve coached me in baseball and basketball for years and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the work ethic and the discipline they instilled in me,” Dignan said. “Like every day at practice, working hard for everything, nothing was earned. And honestly, that helped me academically because I always viewed myself as having to work hard to get where I wanted to be.”

Dignan said history teachers Matthew Sayer and Hunter Rivett have also inspired him to want to become a teacher one day.

“Not just in school, but they’ve been really good role models to me in life as well,” he said.

The same kind of role model Dignan hopes he is for his younger twin siblings, Luke and Olivia, who are sophomores at BHS.

“I think it’s really important that we be as best of an influence or best of role models as we can be for the younger generation,” Dignan said. “You never know who’s watching you. You never know who’s riding on your success.

“It’s been so crucial to me to live my life daily and inspire others and be a good example for them to follow.”

SALUTATORIAN

Elizabeth Perez

Perez admits her mom, Melina, doesn’t get emotional very often. She hopes that changes when she delivers her salutatorian address during graduation ceremonies.

“I think she’s going to cry and she doesn’t usually get that emotional,” Perez said. “My mom is very shocked. She still doesn’t believe it. She probably won’t believe it until she sees me up there on that podium giving my speech. I think my family is just really proud and really happy that our last name, Perez, is able to be represented that way, especially being from the Latin community. It’s just a great honor.”

Perez said making good grades was something that was always stressed in her household, but she never considered herself as a student to be at the top of her class until high school.

“It wasn’t until my sophomore year where I took two AP classes and I saw my transcript and it said I was No. 1 for a little bit,” she said. “I was like, ‘I kind of like this feeling. Let’s just keep this trend going.’ ” While maintaining a tough class schedule, Perez played clarinet for the BHS band and was president of key club and was involved in FBLA and student council.

“I liked putting myself in clubs that you can visibly see in the school,” she said.

She plans to attend the University of Tulsa this fall.

“I got accepted into their honors school and I’ll be majoring in international business, language and psychology,” she said. “And hopefully I’ll be in their pre-law program. My ultimate goal is to go to law school.”

While at BHS, Perez said she credits Sayer and teachers Kendra Turner and Chandra High for helping her achieve her academic goals.

But it was her mom, father Daniel Palomino, and brother Miguel Perez who helped pave the path that she hopes will one day lead to the goal of being an attorney.

“My mom came here from Mexico, and she studied a lot in Mexico and she went to college, but here I guess her dreams kind of stayed dreams,” Elizabeth Perez said. “I hope to maybe one day be an extension of those dreams for her.

“And definitely my brother, who worked hard to be first in our family to graduate high school and graduate college. I just want to hopefully follow in their footsteps.”

Perez said she’s looking forward to addressing her classmates one final time at Sunday’s graduation ceremony.

“I like what I wrote because I feel like it could represent any student that’s down there,” she said. “I just hope to inspire them in some way and motivate them as we depart and go down our own paths and start our own stories.”