Support, perseverance allows West Valley High grad to flourish: Schaffer heads to Whitworth in fall

Every student is faced with challenges on their journey from childhood through high school and into becoming a young adult. Those challenges can take many forms – some minor, some quite major.

In some instances, those difficulties are not due to anything controllable by the student. Those may be the toughest of all.

Samantha Schaffer’s journey hasn’t been easy, but her dedication and perseverance have carried her to a point where she can, maybe finally, be in charge of her own destiny.

The senior is set to graduate from West Valley and plans to pursue a college education in the fall. But her path has been filled with obstacles from the very start of her journey.

Schaffer – Samie, to her friends – was first placed into the care of the Hutton Settlement Children’s Home in 2010, when she was just 7.

She and her older brother, JR, had lived with their mother in Florida, who had challenges of her own and ended up with custody issues. The children were removed from their mother and placed in the custody of their father in Spokane.

Looking for support and further adult supervision and interaction for Samie, he placed her at Hutton – but retained custody of her brother.

Since she was so young and it was a private placement, some of the details – as well as the original custody issues – are still fuzzy to Schaffer.

But she has made the best of it.

“From the time I moved in (to Hutton) I was able to connect with the adult figures here,” Schaffer said. “I was able to meet people who were just here to support me and make sure I was doing the right things and on the right track.”

Schaffer found dance when she was 13, and it has helped her find her way in life.

In a personal statement she wrote for her college application, she said, “Amidst my challenges that I was facing and feeling, dance became my source of happiness. A healthy outlet, I was able to release my feelings, have a ‘second home’ and a place that I felt loved.”

Once in high school, Schaffer started to flourish. She got involved with the dance team and joined the girls tennis team.

“I was very involved on campus and within the school system, maintained a high grade-point average – just tried to be a good role model for the other kids,” she said.

Schaffer remained in contact with her father throughout the years, though, and at the start of her sophomore year he took back custody.

“They say, ‘Once a Hutton kid, always a Hutton kid.’ ” she said. “This is like a home for everyone that comes here. I knew that if I ever needed help or someone to talk to I could just reach out and they would be there to talk with me.

“I feel like that knowledge, when I went to live with my dad, was kind of reassuring because I knew that the people out here were always there for me.”

She opted to stay at West Valley, but since her father didn’t live in the school district she had to provide her own transportation, requiring a more than one-hour trip each way on public transportation.

It didn’t deter her.

“When I moved back to my dad’s house, it was a little bit difficult because I was going into my sophomore year of high school, so things were still kind of new there and I wasn’t sure of what I really wanted in school,” she said. “I still had a support system at Hutton though, so I was able to reach out and get help when I needed it.”

But the effort took its toll. Between the time spent on the bus, her extra-curricular activities, trying to maintain friends and even a part-time job at Rosauers, Schaffer turned for help in a familiar place.

“She found that she really needed the support system she relied upon so heavily,” said Jessica Laughery, the Director of Community Relations & Stewardship for the Hutton Settlement.

After a year-and-a-half with her father and nearing graduation, she returned to Hutton’s care in January – just before the pandemic turned everyone’s world upside down.

Back at Hutton, Schaffer was able to experience independent living in its senior dorms and regained the momentum she needed to push through to graduation.

“I decided to move back for more of a support system for preparation for going into college and finishing off my senior year strong,” Shaffer said.

Her story doesn’t end with high school graduation, though.

Schaffer originally planned to attend Grand Canyon University in Arizona, but her return to Hutton made her eligible for additional financial support – and a last-minute change in plans for a terrific opportunity.

Schaffer was accepted at Whitworth for the fall semester. She will live on campus and plans to study education and English. She plans to minor in dance and she’s already made the cheer team.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve always loved reading and writing and indulging in books, and trying to find the meaning in what the author is trying to say,” she said. “It connects so many people.”