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Published Wednesday, June 7, 2023

C2 • Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • ferndalerecord.com

Ferndale High School celebrates its valedictorians

The following are Q&As with Ferndale valedictorians Grade-point average: 4.0 Where will you attend college? I am planning to attend Bellingham Technical College for at least two years.

As a child, what was the first thing you wanted to become when you grow up?

When I was little, I wanted to be a construction worker, just like my dad used to be. It changed to being a plumber for a little bit, but after elementary school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I grew up. All I knew was that I had an interest in computers and technology in general, and that jobs in computers are highly sought after. Only this year have I found what field I truly want to work in: IT. What are your career plans?

I plan to have some sort of job in tech support, cyber security, or something

else along those lines. I’m not too sure yet, but what really helped me narrow my choices down was the IT class I took this year, as it made me realize my true interest in working with computers.

What is the greatest thing you gained from your K-12 experience? What is the greatest thing you gained from attending your high school?

I think the best things I’ve gained from school in general are the friends I’ve gained over time. They are the reason I enjoy life and they allow me to be my true self. From specifically high school, the greatest thing I’ve gained is knowing what I want to do after I finish high school. Not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up made me stress a lot, but now that I know who I want to be, I’m able to relax a bit and have confidence in myself.

Who is your role model?

If I had to name one, I’d have to say my

greatest thing you gained from attending your high school?

The greatest thing I have gained from my K-12 experience has been the friends I have made in both students and teachers.

The greatest thing I have gained from my high school experience has been learning how to be more accepting of myself and expressing myself openly.

Who is your role model?

My role model is Sarah Lavender, teen librarian at the Ferndale branch of the Whatcom County Library System. I met her in sixth grade, and since then she has encouraged me to become engaged in the arts, theatre, and to be confident in being myself. She is a very caring, honest and hard-working person as well as a great friend.

What do you hope to be doing in five years? In 10 years? In 20 years?

In five years, I hope to be happy about my decision of which degree I’ll be working for, since right now I’m not sure which I’ll choose of the few careers that I’m thinking about. In 10 years, I hope to be

working in a field that makes me happy.

Perhaps if I follow the stop-motion path, I’ll be working on the next Laika film to be released. In 20 years, I hope to have a house and a family somewhere in the pacific northwest with chickens, mules and sheep.

What is the most important thing in your life?

The most important thing in my life is loving other people. I feel that if we treated people with kindness more often, the world would be a better place. If just one person’s day can be made better, that’s success.

Who is the most important person in your life?

The most important person in my life is my younger sister Siri Somers, who was born before the Apple Siri came out (haha). She is a very kind, sensitive and funny person whom I love and respect beyond words. My sister and I have a very close relationship. We can be very silly together but we also support and care for one another very strongly.

Aiden Otto

Helena Somers Grade-point average: 4.0 Where will you attend college? I will be going to Western Washington University for the 23-24 school year.

As a child, what was the first thing you wanted to become when you grow up?

As a child, the first thing I wanted to become was an artist. I loved painting, drawing and crafting. Today, I still love the arts, and have also learned how to sew and work with ceramics. I would love to become a stop-motion animation artist, but I’m also interested in teaching, and in a totally opposite direction, medical surgery interests me.

What are your career plans?

Again, I am in between becoming some type of artist, either stop-motion or ceramic, a teacher of either art or math, and/ or a physician’s assistant with an interest in surgery.

What is the greatest thing you gained from your K-12 experience? What is the

mom. She is so incredibly hard working, encouraging, and smart.

What do you hope to be doing in five years? In 10 years? In 20 years?

In five years I hope my college education will have gone smoothly and I hope to have a well-paying job. As for 10 and 20 years, still having a well-paying job, but maybe with less student debt to pay off.

What is the most important thing in your life?

The most important thing to me is happiness, both in myself and others. I aspire to make others happy because that’s one of the best feelings.

Who is the most important person in your life?

I can’t name just one, but my parents are the ones who make me feel the most confident in myself and who I am. They provide for me not only the necessities to live but the things that make life worth living.

FHS Scholarships Academic Scholarships Kevin Arellano: Bellingham Technical College Alexandra Aponte: Gonzaga University’s Merit Scholarship Kaylee Biewer: Children’s Ministry Institution’s People of Whatcom and Child Fellowship Paige Birdsell: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award Emma Brockett: Utah State University’s Dean’s Scholarship Samuel Brulotte: Central Washington University Diana Cacho: Seattle University’s Achievement Scholarship & U Bound Scholarship Brooklyn Cagle: Columbia-Basin College’s Northwest Athletic Volleyball Scholarship Ericka Castroescobar: Evergreen Beauty College Jordan Childs: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award Janet Cortes: Whatcom Community College Jaxon Dahlstrom: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award & Merit Award Joshua Enger: University of Washington’s Opportunity Scholarship Adrian Finsrud: Western Washington University’s Thomas Wynn Family Scholarship & College Bound Scholarship, Washington State University’s College

Bound Scholarship, University Achievement & Washington College Grant Tatum Fox: Grand Canyon University’s Provost Scholarship Andrea Garcia: Bellingham Technical College Abigail Hanft: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award Hailey Hermann: University of Portland’s President’s Scholarship & Anchor Award Lilly Hulett: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award & Merit Award Cailyn Kessen: Skagit Valley College’s Athletic Scholarship Avanee Lal: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award & Merit Award Glenda Lozano-Licona: Seattle University’s Achievement Scholarship, WA State College Bound Scholarship Tim Malpezzi: Bellingham Technical College Madison Michels: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award & Merit Award Maximo Napoles: Bellingham Technical College Jonathan O’Brien: Whatcom Community College Ellie Ochoa: Grand Canyon University’s Academic Scholarship

Lane Oostra: Clark College’s Springtime Youth Scholarship Melina Saxman: Southern Oregon University’s Western Undergraduate Exchange Scholarship Jacob Singleton: University of Idaho’s Western Undergraduate Exchange Scholarship Sahijvir Sohal: Bellingham Technical College Helena Somers: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award Jared Surber: Bellingham Technical College Aubrey Tegt: Grand Canyon University’s Provost Scholarship Lexie Townley: Western Washington University’s Admissions Merit Award & Achievement Award Janely Valenzuela: Western Washington University’s Admissions Merit Award & Achievement Award Nolan Wisbey: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award Warner Wood: Western Washington University’s Admissions Achievement Award Community Scholarships Bryn Bezona: Mr. Wood and Family Scholarship Tipton Bundy: Jamie Vermeulen Memorial Scholarship, Central Elementary PTO Scholarship, Richard & Elaine Tucker

Scholarship Madisyn Butenschoen: Ferndale Kiwanis Memorial Scholarship, Ferndale Administrative Assistants Association, Ferndale Public School Employees Tom Taylor/Terry Ebright Memorial Scholarship Brittany Case: Ferndale Administrative Assistants Association, Rose Gould Memorial Scholarship Jordan Childs: Ferndale Education Association, Fallen Workers Memorial Scholarship, Richard & Elaine Tucker Scholarship Jaxon Dahlstrom: Daniel Bartle Memorial Scholarship, McCourt Family Scholarship Adrian Finsrud: Thomas Wynn Family Scholarship Josiah Fox: Ferndale Performing Arts Scholarship Haelie Hayes: Mr. Wood and Family Scholarship Madison Helt: PEO, Chapter BQ Ferndale Scholarship, Wes Martinson Memorial Scholarship Paloma Jose-Day: Whatcom Access and Advocacy Scholarship Divdish Kaur: Trans-Ocean Products Scholarship Payton Lee: Ferndale Public School Employees Tom Taylor/ Terry Ebright Memorial Scholarship, Ferndale Performing Arts Scholarship Jake Mason: Ferndale Youth Sports Mentor Scholarship, Jake Mason: Mr. Wood and Family

Scholarship, Ferndale Education Association Jordan Mason: Mr. Wood and Family Scholarship Madison Michels: Ferndale Scholarship Fund, Mary L. Seilo Memorial Scholarship Jonathan O’Brien: SISU Children’s Fund Aiden Otto: Trans-Ocean Products Scholarship Meline Saxman: Ferndale Kiwanis Memorial Scholarship, Ferndale Band Booster Scholarship, Ferndale Administrative Assistants Association, Lynden/ Ferndale International Masonic Lodge No. 56 Scholarship Gurkamal Singh: Trans-Ocean Products Scholarship Helena Somers: Lynden/Ferndale International Masonic Lodge No. 56 Scholarship Helena Somers: Ferndale Performing Arts Scholarship, Ferndale Education Association, Cascadia Elementary PTO Scholarship Zoey Stricklett: Central Elementary PTO Scholarship Jared Surber: Ferndale Education Association Trade / Tech, Ferndale Education Association, Ferndale Administrative Assistants Association Bria Van Arevalo: Daughters of the American Revolution – Good Citizen Award Malia Welch: Ferndale Education Association, Ferndale Band Booster Scholarship

ferndalerecord.com • Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • C3

Ferndale High School Janett Aamot

Payton Akers

Hope Albright

Wren Anderson

Sabrina Anderson

Alexandra Aponte-Matos

Jayse Applegate

Kevin Arellano Yañiz

Bria Arévalo

Shane Arnett

Vanessa Avalos

Alina Azadah

Matthew Baker

Tubria Ballew

Sarah Barnreiter

Harlan Bassir

Marie Beck-Burt

Paige Birdsell

Brooke Bolton

Karma Bradshaw

Emma Brockett

Samuel Brulotte

Tipton Bundy

Emma Burnett

Madisyn Butenschoen

Diana Cacho

Brooklyn Cagle

Harrison Carpenter

Brittany Case

Ericka Castro Escobar

Julius Charles

Jordan Childs

Carolyn Cox

Atticus Currey

Jaxon Dahlstrom

Natalie Darr-Rehmert

Cameron Dennis

Ryan Doll

Joshua Enger

Deven Ferraro

Tre Ferry

Krys Filippini

Christopher Finkbonner

Malia Finkbonner

Adrian Finsrud

Andrew Finsrud

Greyson Fitzgerald

Hunter Ford

Josiah Fox

Tatum Fox

Baker Freeman

Andrea Garcia

Alexis Gardner Anderson

Jazzie Gonzales

Finn Grahame

Brar Gurleen

Jack Hall

Abigail Hanft

Landen Hatchett

Morgan Hayes

Hanna Heinrichs

Madison Helt

James Heneghan

Kyle Henken

Zoie Henry

Hailey Hermann

Yadira Hernandez-Gonzalez

Kenna Hickok

Kalob Hirt

Ethan Hively

Ayden Hoffman

Lilly Hulett

C4 • Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • ferndalerecord.com

Ferndale High School Alyssa Humphrey

Tjasia Huynh

Solstice Ihly

Gretchen Inman

Abigail Ivanyuk

Andrew James

Matthias Johnson

Aubrie Jones

Summer Jordan

Gwendolyn JoseDay

Robert Joseph

Damien Kamkoff

Kaleo Kennerley

Katrina Kernak-Killian

Cailyn Kessen

McKenzie Kimmel

Lillian Kraft

Gabrielle Krutsinger

Avanee Lal

Elle Lamphiear

Kaylen Lane

Ashley Lang

Annika Lee

Payton Lee

Brady Lira

Antonio Lopez

Gian Lopez

Glenda Lozano-Licona

Jayden Macy

Timothy Malpezzi

Kaia Manning

Jakob Markin

Ellie Martinson

Jacob Mason

Jordan Mason

Eleanor May

Samuel McAllister

Berkley McClellan-Tedrow

Cameron McFadden

Kateri McFall

Austin Merwin

Sydney Mewett

Madison Michels

Kayla Miller

Lucas Mills

Aysia Mitchell

Warren Moore

Dyna Murillo

Maddison Murphy

Maximus NapolesPadilla

Wyatt Nicholass

Jason Nowak Jr.

Casey Nylen

Jonathan O’Brien

Ellie Ochoa

Isaac Ochoa

Lane Oostra

Preston Osborn

Jillian Owen

Taylor Parsons

Juana Pascual Francisco

Aaliyah Patterson

Anhelina Petrovska

Natalia Petrovska

Kaylee Phare

Jaden Phillips

Courtney Pietig

Logan Pike

Jackson Plumb

Kennedy Pomeroy

Matthias Prenosil

Olivia Priest

ferndalerecord.com • Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • C5

Ferndale High School Adiyah Ramsey

Samuel Randell

Draden Rasmussen

Aaron Rensink

Sarahit Sánchez García

Joseph Santangelo

Melina Saxman

Dimitri Schonborn

Hunter Sharp

Levi Snider

Helena Somers

Kylee Staton

Isabella Stephens

Kai Swedelius

Aubrey Tegt

Spencer Teshera

Vasyl Tsinyk

Emily Tyree

Peter Witzel

Alexander Wolfe

NOT PICTURED:

Carlos Ailon-Gomes Gabreila Andrade-Benitez Miguel Andres-Francisco Daniel Andrushenko Aneissa Avina Angel Barco Cristian Bercerra Maya Berwick Orrin Berwick Kaylee Biewer Melissa Blanke Matthew Blunt Gurleen Brar Hannah Briano Christine Broselle Lily Burke Malia Burrous Christian Cadero Isaiah Carlson Brandon Carpenter Lucas Carpenter Sonia Casillas Diana Castro Allen Chao

Keegan Ross

Jake Ryan

Davila Sheakley

Harneet Sidhu

Madison Smetana

Rose Strissel

Micah Studer

Laurel Sturdevant

Jared Surber

Morgan Therrien

Damien Toney

Ashley Torres-Carrillo

Lexie Townley

Stepan Tsinyk

Janelly Valenzuela

Kendall Vann

Ethan Warriner

Sam Wasilewski

Malia Welch

Nolan Wisbey

Warner Wood

Damon Zapata

Blue Chapin Caleb Chaussee Jerry Cooper-Phair Janet Cortes Ayala Jeremiah Covington Simon D’Arienzo Austin Dayton Nick De Leon Alivea Deng Brooke Dwight Johnny Edwards Emma Egerdal Jocelynn Esteban Portes Trevor Fetty Arlenie Flores Trenton Ford Deyshawn Foster Christopher Foulke Kristel Garcia Kiyomi Geppert Dominick Godinez Gianna Gonzales-Canevaro Eduardo Gonzalez Kaden Grumbles Justin Hartke

Alexis Rodriguez-Kittila Anahi Romero Mijanngos

Nevan Harvey Tyler Housouer Zhiyu Hui Samuel Irvine Robert James Robert Kamps Jr. Divdish Kaur Valeria Kazantseva Ryan Kirkpatrick Winston Knezek Anna Kwon Ty Lindsay Pascual Lopez Ortiz Chase Lopez Jonathan Lorn-Dugan Zoe Marapao Sixto Marquez Rodriguez Siselya Martin Axe McBride Durban Mccarty Pablo Mendoza-Mendez Jorge Mendoza-Raymundo Devin Miller Arianna Mintah-Myers Shane Mira

Malakhi Moreau Jillian Moren Cody Moseley David O’Brien Estevan Olguin Cody Olsick Aiden Otto William Owings Yana Paliyev Quinseenum Rabang Victoria Radchishina Ramandeep Randhawa Ali’lawet Red Elk Olivia Revey Olivia Reynolds Spencer Reynolds Samara Rodriguez Jesstin Rojas Tyler Sager Chief Saluskin-Pitt Jennifer Schmitt Jose Silva Kody Simmons Gurkamal Singh Hanna Singh

Sukhmanpreet Singh Jacob Singleton Amelia Smeby Basil Sohail Sahijvir Sohal Ashton Solomon Sarah Somawang Zoey Stricklett Dylan Strom Tayven Sturtz Henry Summers Cara Sytsma Dylan Taylor Robert Templin Jewelz Terry Samundra Thapa Josue Trejo Jr. Jaedyn Valdez Aodhan Vaughn Ty Warner Alexandria Wilson Oleh Yadchenko Michael Zelenskiy

Well Done Seniors!

C6 • Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • ferndalerecord.com

Thank you to the following businesses for helping us celebrate this important milestone!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the 2023 graduates!

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Congratulations Class of 2023!

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