Students, parents and educators filled the Shannon Center Thursday evening to recognize academic excellence. Dublin High School's annual Senior Awards Night caps off a a series of recent awards banquets spotlighting achievements in athletics and the arts.

The Senior Awards Night builds on the college admission results released earlier this month by Dublin High's Counseling Department. Class of 2011 seniors received offers of admission to Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, West Point, Julliard, Penn State, every UC campus and many more colleges across the US. According to Dublin High Counseling, more than half of the 2011 graduating class will be attending a 4-year college and 95% of those attending a 2-year community college are enrolling in transfer programs to a 4-year college.

Guests for the awards ceremony were greeted by Dublin High's Jazz Combo and refreshments served by fellow Dublin High students. The evening kicked off with speeches by Dublin High Principal Carol Shimizu, Dublin Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hanke and outgoing Dublin High Student Body President Ben Young. Mr. Young also received a special presentation from a US Military Academy at West Point representative. Ben was accepted into and will be attending the highly selective military college starting this summer.

Awards and scholarships totalling just under $1,800,000 were announced during the evening, including 25 students who received college merit scholarships. A diverse set of scholarships and awards were presented throughout the evening - from the US Armed Forces, Lions and Rotary clubs, to local businesses and charitable organizations.

Thirty-seven students were named California Scholarship Federation (CSF) Life Members with senior Eric Lau receiving a CSF Leadership Scholarship. Sixteen students received a President's Silver Award for Educational Achievement and 27 students received a President's Gold Award (based on GPA performance).

In all, more than 100 seniors received awards throughout the evening including the first group of graduating seniors to earn Dublin High's most stringent graduation requirement - the Advanced Scholar Diploma.

The last announcement of the evening was reserved for Dublin High School Class of 2011 Valedictorian Michelle Lee who achieved a GPA of 4.5. She will be attending Harvard University, was named a National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist and earned numerous awards throughout the evening.