Congratulations Class of 2025!

Notre Dame senior Matthew Austin has been named the Valedictorian for the class of 2025! Austin is very accomplished in the academic realm, earning a perfect score of 36 on the ACT, being named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, a U.S. Presidential Scholars Program nominee, Missouri Scholars 100 recognition, and the Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship for the state of Missouri.

Austin was a French National Exam (Le Grand Concours) bronze medalist in 2022, and silver medalist in 2023 and 2024. In 2023 and 2024, he was a medalist at the Southeast Missouri State Math Field Day Event. He received the College Board Rural and Small-Town National Recognition, and has received student of the year honors in Advanced English I, Honors Geometry, French II and III, Pre-Calculus, Junior Composition and Information Technology from Notre Dame. Additionally, he has been on Notre Dame’s scholar bowl team since his freshman year, earning all-district honors in 2024 when the team won the district competition, and serving as captain his senior year. 

Outside of the classroom, Austin stays busy participating in Notre Dame student organizations like National Honor Society, SADD Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Science Club. He has served as the French Club president, and is a five-time state qualifier in FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and FBLA district vice president. Austin is an Eagle Scout with 12 years of scouting experience earning Order of the Arrow and the Bernard Harris Supernova Award. 

An avid tennis player, Austin has participated in varsity tennis at Notre Dame for four years, serving as the team captain his senior season. He has qualified for state three times, helping lead Notre Dame to a fourth-place state finish in Class 2 in 2023. He has been nominated twice for the semoball.com boys tennis player of the year, and has competed in many tournaments outside of school, including winning the 2024 Show-Me State Games 18U Singles Championship.

Perhaps most impressive is Austin’s commitment to serving others. As the president of Notre Dame’s National French Honor Society, he aided the organization in raising money to sponsor the education of a child in Haiti. He has earned the Notre Dame Regional High School Christian Service Award for 200+ hours of community service, and has completed over 400 total hours of service as part of earning the Congressional Award Program Gold Medal. Other service organizations Austin has worked with include Big Brothers Big Sisters and First Presbyterian Church of Cape Girardeau Community Lunchbox, along with collecting items for the Safe Harbor Thrift Store. Austin also serves as the regional president of the Second Serve non-profit, which donates gently used tennis equipment to underprivileged areas worldwide. 

Austin’s parents are Sam and Caroline Austin of Cape Girardeau, and they are members of St. Mary Cathedral Church. Austin will be attending Northwestern University in the fall, majoring in economics on the pre-med track. 

In addition to thanking his parents, Austin said he, “would also like to thank the rest of my family in Charleston and Knoxville for supporting me throughout my whole life.” 

Skylar Craft has been named Salutatorian for the Notre Dame Regional High School class of 2025. Craft is the daughter of Lance and Toni Craft of Jackson, Missouri. They are members of Immaculate Conception Parish.  

Craft is a Bright Flight Scholar, member of the National Society of High School Scholars, as well as a member of Notre Dame’s National Honor Society chapter. She has been on the academic A-Honor Roll all four years of high school, and has been named student of the year in Accounting, French I, Health and Honors Spanish II, along with numerous Student of the Month awards. During her sophomore year, she was inducted into the National Spanish Honor Society, and won the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese’s Voice for Life poem contest. Craft was part of the first-place geometry team at Southeast Missouri State University’s Math Field Day, and she is a member of Women in God’s Service (WinGs) club, Peer Helpers and Student Ambassadors. 

Craft is a decorated three sport athlete, playing volleyball, basketball and soccer for Notre Dame. She has 10 varsity letters, and was Academic All-State in volleyball during her senior season. As captain of the girls basketball team, she was named to the All-District team this year. She is a two-time All-District soccer player, and was named All-Conference her freshman year.

“I would like to thank my teachers, coaches, teammates, friends, and, especially, my family for always supporting me and shaping me into the person I am today,” says Craft. She has not yet finalized plans for after graduation. 

“I would like to thank my teachers, coaches, teammates, friends, and, especially, my family for always supporting me and shaping me into the person I am today,” says Craft. She has not yet finalized plans for after graduation.