All Saints' Episcopal School
Ty Cleveland receives his diploma from Dr. Will Matsuzaki, Upper School Division Head.
Of all the gifts bestowed by their maker and honed in their years at All Saints’ Episcopal School, there is one greater than all the rest that should be liberally deployed, according to one among the Class of 2024.
“Love is a gift that God gave us to connect with every other person,” Tyler Cleveland, the class salutatorian told graduates. “We are truly lucky to be able to smile at someone as we walk by, or hold the door open for them, or sing random songs together during Latin tests. It’s a gift that takes nothing to give but gives so much more.
“We can never know or change what people have gone through. But showing love to them fosters a sense of belonging and community that maybe, just maybe, can change people’s outlooks on life.”
Cleveland and valedictorian Anne Delk were the top-ranked academics among All Saints’ 81 graduates, who received diplomas during commencement exercises May 11 on the Burnett Great Lawn at the school.
Both are headed to College Station, the land of Aggies, for school at Texas A&M. Both are planning to study the sciences with career tracks in healthcare and medicine. Delk is planning to study biology. Cleveland plans to study environmental geoscience.
Ninety-three percent of the class were awarded merit scholarships totally more than $12.2 million, according to the school. Thirteen in the class earned athletic scholarships, including Douglas Dodson, who will be attending the United States Naval Academy.
“At our school we don't know our ranking year by year,” Delk says of when she found out she had topped the charts. “I had no idea where I was. So, I was mostly just surprised, but I was obviously really excited and the whole family was excited for me, too.”
Delk’s senior capstone project was a social media cancer awareness video campaign for the Fort Worth-based Rutledge Cancer Foundation. Her videos included interviews with survivors of the five most common cancers found in young adults. The project was an extension of her junior thesis paper examining the correlation between adolescent behavior and skin cancer.
All Saints' Episcopal School
Valedictorian Anne Delk was a National Merit Commended Scholar, a member of the Cum Laude Society, and a Head of School Scholar.
Delk, captain of the varsity tennis team, was a National Merit Commended Scholar, a member of the Cum Laude Society, and a Head of School Scholar.
In her address to graduates, Delk implored her classmates to be unafraid to take risks and prospects of failure.
Like Delk, Cleveland was a member of the Cum Laude Society and Head of School Scholar. He was his varsity soccer team’s captain.
His senior capstone project was titled “The Digital Era and Its Application in Medical Charting.” Part of the project was assisting in digitizing a medical office’s charting and documentation.
As a junior he served an internship assisting TCU professor Victoria Bennett’s research of how the surface level of water affects the prevalence of bat foraging.
The philosophy of science, its explanations and validations, and its objectivity drive both of these students.
However, there is one thing that objectively illustrates that we are not merely accidents of the science of evolution. It’s the formed soul, which can give and receive love, Cleveland says.
And it’s impact is transformative.
“In our world nowadays, separated by pain and grief, we need love,” said Tyler Cleveland, salutatorian, in his address to classmates. “Love brings happiness to our lowest points and elevates our highest points. It is a unique gift that connects us all. In all this uncertainty about our futures, love always brings us together, whether that’s as a community at All Saints’, in college, or in the world.
"Use your gift to spread love in the world.”