Eighty seniors graduated from TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas on May 23 in the school’s All Saints Chapel.

Collectively, the class was offered more than $9.5 million in college scholarships; all were accepted by four-year colleges and universities. In state, TMI graduates will attend schools including Baylor, Rice, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University, Trinity and the University of Texas at Austin. Out-of-state, graduates will matriculate at Boston College, Case Western Reserve, Duke, Georgetown, Tulane, the University of Chicago, Yale and Washington University in St. Louis, among many others.

Hailey Carter was the recipient of the Bishop’s Cup, an annual award chosen by the faculty for the member of the graduating class who has demonstrated the finest qualities of Christian citizenship during his or her stay at the school. Carter served as president of TMI’s chapter of Interact, the Rotary-sponsored youth community-service organization, and will attend the University of Arkansas, Honors Program, to study biomedical engineering.

Gabriela Font was the recipient of the Founder’s Award, presented in honor of the memory of the Rt. Rev. James S. Johnston to the student who best embodies the TMI mission statement: Font was a delegate to Bluebonnet Girls State last summer and received an award for her volunteer work with Girls Inc. She will attend the University of Michigan.

The Rt. Rev. Gary Lillibridge, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, preached the homily at the Baccalaureate service, May 22, and gave the invocation and handed out diplomas at graduation with Stephen Walker, executive chairman of the TMI Board of Governors , and TMI Headmaster John W. Cooper, Ph.D.

“Live in ways that make your family, community, your part of the world a brighter and better place because you are in it,” the bishop advised the graduates. “If you want a great life, live for great reasons.”

The faculty speaker, chosen by the students, was Patrick Davis, a member of the TMI class of 1994, English teacher and head baseball coach. “Work very hard to know who you are,” Davis told the graduates. “Let other people help you with this self-discovery, but never allow yourself to be processed…by pressure, by accepted social norms, by education.. Work hard to find out the best things in you.”

The student speaker, chosen by the faculty, was Isabel Miller, who will attend the University of Texas at Austin. “TMI has helped us lay the foundation for the masterpieces that will be our lives,” Miller told her classmates, “and now it is our job to leave this place with the confidence and tools to begin anew.”