Spokane International Academy: Sawyer Hollis’ correct answer was pursuing math

Spokane International Academy senior Sawyer Hollis has been full steam ahead when it comes to school, something he credits to his fourth grade teacher Kirk Willis.

“He was the first teacher that sparked my curiosity for math and in turn, all of the education that I could get,” he said. “I think it’s then that I really started to be like ‘Let’s take this serious.’ “

A natural in mathematics, Hollis joined the Math is Cool club in elementary school to practice problem solving. He then skipped pre-algebra in seventh grade and moved onto more difficult classes.

Near the end of eighth grade, Hollis decided to attend Spokane International Academy, seeing it as an academically driven school.

“There’s more emphasis on individuals and teachers working exactly with you to help you grow based on how they know you, what your learning style is, and the opportunity to be in that environment with a little less kids and not have to worry about that dynamic,” he said.

When asked about memorable high school memories, Hollis mentioned spending lunch periods with his classmates in English teacher Chad May’s classroom freshman and sophomore years. Those lunch breaks were memorable for May as well.

“They were, Sawyer included, a really great group of kids,” May said. “One of the things that was really neat about that group is they weren’t necessarily best friends, but they were all friendly and supportive of one another, so it was a nice way to spend our lunch every day.”

Although he has focused on math, May said Hollis was driven in all of his classes, trying to learn and improve as much as he could. One year, May assigned his students to write a 1,500-word gothic fiction story to match the genre they were studying. Hollis got so into the assignment that he turned in a 40-page story.

“That’s the way he was as a student, always doing as much as he could, always working really hard to not only meet the standard, but exceed whatever you were asking them to do,” May said.

When he entered Spokane International Academy, Hollis knew that junior and senior years meant participating in either Running Start or a NEWTech program. Wanting to put himself in the best position for a four-year college, Hollis chose Running Start and studied math at Spokane Community College. He’ll graduate with his Associate of Art degree at the same time he graduates high school.

As a reward of sorts for all his hard work, Hollis was named the school’s valedictorian. He knows he worked hard for the achievement, but he also thanks counselor Tabatha Copeland, math teacher and cross country coach Matthew Almon and history teacher Robert Hyde for their guidance during his time at SIA.

On top of his academic work, Hollis was secretary and treasurer of the school’s associated student body his sophomore year and took improv classes during junior year to help break out of his shell.

He also competed with SIA’s inaugural cross country team his senior year and is the vice president of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society at SCC.

In the fall, Hollis will attend Whitworth University, where he’ll continue studying mathematics.

“There’s always a correct answer,” he said. “There’s always something you’re striving for that’s objective, and going through that process of eliminating and growing and challenging your brain and that more analytical side to figure out the problem and figure out the answer. Then also the theory base of mathematics, which I’ll be able to explore more when I get to higher levels.”