Aurora High School has produced some amazing students over the past few decades.
AURORA, Colo. — In his 25 years working at Aurora's Smoky Hill High School, counseling coordinator Bob Kennedy has seen many talented teens enroll at the school.
A few years after graduating, many of these young people have gone on to gain national attention in the fields of sports, music and entertainment.
“I fell in love with the individuality of the students here,” Kennedy says. “We were different in a way than other schools, maybe because we weren’t in the spotlight. [Cherry] Creek got it.”
Adrian Holguin, a math teacher and leader of the school's improvisational comedy troupe, Spontaneous Combustion, is well aware of the school's star power.
“I was Bowen Yang's calculus teacher and the director of his first comedy group, Spontaneous Combustion,” Holguin says, “so I've known Bowen for a long time, and I still do.”
Holguin still keeps in contact with the Saturday Night Live star.
“Dan Soder is one of my students and he's a stand-up comedian and does a little bit of acting as well,” Kennedy said.
And then there was Souder's best friend, who is now the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
“I remember when Mike McDaniel came back from Yale,” Kennedy said, “he was going to transfer to graduate school. I said, 'Mike, what's next for you?' and he said, 'After I finish graduate school, I think I'm probably going to be an NFL coach.'”
He wasn't the only Smoky Hill alumnus to achieve athletic success. Kennedy remembers Jenny Cavner frequently coming into his office to talk about future plans.
“She always called me Kennedy. She was like, 'Kennedy, I know what I'm going to do,' and I was like, 'What is it?' and she was like, 'I want to do something like they do for ESPN,'” he recalled. “And she was like, 'Like a reporter? Like a sports reporter?' And she was like, 'Yeah, that's what I want to do.'”
The list of names in bold is long.
“Mark Shusterman was one of the 'Night Sweats' and was also in 'Spontaneous Combustion,'” Holguin said.
“When the Night Sweats performed on SNL, he and Bowen sent me a photo of two Smoky Hill High School graduates on the SNL stage on the same night, which was really cool,” he said.
As a teacher, counselor, and coach,Look at the kids who are brave enough to try.
“I think of a kid with their eyes wide open who can do anything,” Kennedy said, “and they just keep moving and don't understand 'no.'”
“I don't want to be the guy that crushes dreams because you never know what's going to happen,” he said. “You never know. I want them to maintain that optimism.”
At Smoky Hill, we value authenticity and recognize great talent.
“Bowen did all that on his own so he has to be careful not to collect the trophies, but it was good to be in a place where he could help facilitate it,” Holguin said.
They encourage, they believe, and they just wait to be amazed.
“It'll be interesting to see who comes out of Smoky Hill next,” Holguin said. “I think there's a lot of potential here.”
“I wouldn't be surprised if some of the kids I work with now are the next ones in the spotlight 10 or 15 years from now,” Kennedy said.
Starting in February 2024: Jenny Cavner is poised to make MLB history
From February 2022: New Dolphins coach McDaniel excelled off the field, too, according to Smoky Hill counselor
From October 2020: The Aurora native and “Saturday Night Live” performer says his passion for comedy began in high school.
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