By Marianne Lincoln

This past week, between the Bethel and Franklin Pierce School Districts they held seven graduation ceremonies. Prior to that, they held seven Senior Awards events. If my Flickr site group for the Pierce Prairie Post works, this link will contain the photos of those award events. There were an amazing number of scholarships awarded. $137,415 from local non-profit organizations and several million in other scholarships from colleges, universities, businesses and other philanthropic groups.

Also identified at the Senior Awards events were the greatest academic achievers, the class Valedictorians and Salutorians.  Saying congratulations doesn’t seem like enough. Perhaps, “Incredible job!” would be a better way to express awe at their amazing accomplishments. Many of the valedictorians gave speeches at graduation. At Washington High all four shared their speech, splitting it into segments they rotated through, all very well delivered. Three high schools had multiple Valedictorians and hundreds of seniors were honored this month with scholarships some of which were listed here.

Count me among those who feel the following list contains names of students whose accomplishments should be the most honored at an academic institution, the top of their class. Well done.

Bethel High School
Valedictorian: Emily Ann Morrison
Salutorian: Antoinette Danielle Graham

Challenger High School
Valedictorian: Christina Long
Salutorian: Christopher Kelsey

Franklin Pierce High School
Valedictorians: Rachel Jo Elliott, Emerson Matson, Mathias Palmer, Allison Rollins, and Amy Smith
Salutorian: None selected

Graham Kapowsin High School
Valedictorians: Danielle Aldrich, Amy Bernstein, Kristin Berry, Cody Lynn, Taylor Salzburg
Salutorian: Rachel Smith

Spanaway Lake High School
Valedictorian: Sarah Kim
Salutorian: Erica Palmer

Washington High School
Valedictorians: Jessica Bastrom, Emily Herde, Joshua Quichocho, Madeline Roberts
Salutorian: Matthew Krick