Program
Call to Order
Max Fletcher
Welcome and Thank you!
Head Bolts
Musical Performance
performed by Jor’Daniel McPeters-Lambey
Johanna Sweeny Todd
2026 Scholarships
presented by Chiara Spavieri
Zu Carpenter
Whittier Neighborhood Association $2,100
Areli Gonzales-Angeles
Andy Holleman Scholarship $1,000
Hoyt Hedgecock
Andy Holleman Scholarship $1,000
Tyree Lavontae Toliver
Thunderbolt Legacy Scholarship in Honor of Matthew Netting $1,000
Renee Hogarth
Al Schnegelberger Scholarship $1,000
Evan Alexander Zedric Burciaga Underwood
Virginia Loerbeer Scholarship $1,000
Damian Galindo
Richard “Dick” Jordan Scholarship $1,000
Musical Performance
performed by Maggie Lefkowits and Marvin McNeal
Rewrite the Stars The Greatest Showman
Manual High School Performance Choir
soloist: Ellis Clements, Lover Ham Jr., Benito Suarez, Marvin McNeal, Phoebe Hedgecock, Ani’Tolbert
Come Alive The Greatest Showman
Decades Roll Call
called by Manual High School Cheerleading Team
Keynote Speaker
Ernie Jones (Class of 1994)
Board Chair
Principal’s Address
Dr. Chris DeRemer
Meet Our Emcees
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Beatriz Portillo-Pineda
Head Bolt
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Ellis Clements
Head Bolt
Meet Our Speakers
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Dr. Chris DeRemer
Principal, Manual High School
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Ernie Jones, Class of 1994
Board Chair, Friends of Manual
Thank you to our Generous Sponsors
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Pilling Foundation
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Tim Fires & Isaac Pierre
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Allison Rankin
Max Stich/Tiemeier & Stich, P.C.
Julie Winger
Charles Malek & Kim Schneider Malek / Rick Kornfeld & Julie Malek
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Buffy Naake (Class of 1985)
Darrell Watson
Gregg & Mercy Tucker
Jason & Kim Kirksey
Max & Amy Fletcher
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1980 Graduate
Blake Johnson
Brooke Gregory
Chris & Leanne DeRemer
Carol Flowers
Eric Netting & The Class of 1996
Matthew Douglas
Nigel, Felix & Omar Jones
Tom Weaver
From the Principal
Manual Community,
This morning brings us together to commemorate, celebrate and support Manual High School. Manual has the distinct ability to bring seemingly different people together for something bigger than ourselves. We are all here this morning because regardless of age, race, class or lived experience we understand that this place can transcend differences in order to unite. Manual has taught us more about one another, about ourselves and about the community around us and this morning we repay that learning by coming together to celebrate this storied school. And there is so much to celebrate!:
Once again, Manual has achieved an academic rating that is as high or higher than at any time in the last 20 years. Manual is not under any district or state intervention and can stand alone as a school that is serving students as well as any school in the City of Denver.
Manual High School has a new partnership with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovene and their organization titled the Iovene and Young Education Group which has helped the school develop a new pathway for students interested in digital media arts, business, entrepreneurship and computer programming.
Last year, Manual had over 90% staff retention and this team of teachers, mental health providers, administrators and paraprofessionals has now been together for many years creating consistency in programs and opportunities for students across the school.
100% of the Class of 2026 were admitted to college and they earned nearly $4 million dollars in scholarship money which was the highest amount of scholarship money earned by a graduating class from Manual since the Denver Scholarship Foundation has been tracking that number.
In the last five years Manual has exited state intervention, had its highest academic rating in nearly two decades, increased athletic and extracurricular opportunities, grown enrollment and maintained a consistent staff. Manual has proved its doubters wrong and has become a school that is getting state and national attention for its incredible story of perseverance, progress and pride.
I am so thankful to share this morning with you to honor this place that is so important to so many of us. I am thankful that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to support students and community members at this school. Because you are here you are a part of our story of progress and success for that, I am truly appreciative. Thank you for being here this morning, thank you for your support, thank you for being a part of our story.
In Community,
Dr. Chris DeRemer
Principal
Manual High School
From the Board
Thunderbolt Nation,
Thank you all for being here this morning. Your continued dedication to Manual and our students truly means a lot.
The role of Friends of Manual is to raise the additional funds needed to give our students every opportunity to reach their highest potential. We want to Show Them Everything - Early College, MedSchool at Manual, theater visits, band, a rap lab, travel, student clubs, and more than 10 different sports for boys and girls—including eSports.
Without your generosity, we would not be able to support the special programs, projects, and experiences that help prepare our students for life beyond high school.
We love Manual and love that the greater community is seeing the love in Manual - just walk in the front door. More than 60% of the eighth-grade students from Manual Middle School, joined the class of 2030. That growth says a lot about the strength of this campus and the community surrounding it.
As a Manual graduates, parents of graduates, community members and parents of future graduates, the Friends of Manual board is proud to support the work happening here. We invite you to visit the school, talk with our students and staff, and see it for yourself.
With your help, we can continue sharing the message that Manual is the place to be for students who want an innovative, creative, and academically challenging high school experience.
Thank you for believing in our students, investing in their futures, and continuing to support Manual.
Please spread the word: great things are happening at Manual!
Once a Bolt, always a Bolt!
Allison Rankin, Blake Johnson, Carol Flowers, Ernie Jones, Isabelle Rayburn, Julie Winger and Max Fletcher