CNN 2010-06-08

And that's what you seniors all across the U.S. are doing right now, putting on your mortar¹ boards and graduation gowns as you get your diplomas. Finishing high school, as you know, doesn't automatically² mean going on to college... unless you go to Arrupe Jesuit High in Denver, Colorado. Nelson Garcia of affiliate³ KUSA fills us in on the school's graduation streak⁴.

The sounds are the same, and so are the excited faces. But the graduation here at Arrupe Jesuit High School is like no other. This is the fourth year in a row every single senior is going to college.

Sixty percent of you all are the first in your families to graduate high school.

And it changes the history of our family, and it creates a whole different way of seeing the future.

Jose Madrid.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

He is valedictorian and one of 54 students who spent one day a week working in a corporation, earning money to pay for Arrupe while getting business experience. School founder⁵ Father Steve Planning says that this is at the heart of Arrupe's success.

They get to see, feel and touch the future that we want them to have.

Though Arrupe services low-income neighborhoods, with obstacles that challenge every inner city school.

The 54 of you have earned together a combined total of more than 3.85 million dollars in merit-based scholarships.

That averages to more than 70,000 dollars in scholarship money per student.

There was no opportunity for me to fail because so many people believed in me that I had to believe in myself.

Abeline Angeles, Colorado State University.

The sounds may be the same.

Jose Eduardo Madrid, Georgetown University.

But this graduation is like no other. It's the last ceremony for Father Planning. He's leaving.

It's always sad to leave anywhere, but it's particularly sad to leave a place that you were involved in the start up of, so it's gonna be sad to say goodbye.

Leaving behind a thriving program which continues to make a difference in northwest Denver.
 

1 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

2 automatically   

adv.不加思索地，无意识地，自动地

参考例句：

• The machine cycles automatically.这台机器自动循环运转。
• She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers.她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。

3 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

4 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。