Washington Voices

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are:

Starting at a new school in a new town can be a scary proposition for anyone. For Marianne Wipf, there was more cause for caution than most. Now a Freeman High School senior, Wipf moved to the small community just south of Spokane with her family at the start of her seventh-grade year when her father got a job in the area.

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are:

In the Rwandan culture women keep their names upon marrying and children born to them do not necessarily carry their mother’s or father’s surname. Names can be chosen by the family. This is how Douglas Kempthorne came to be named. His father, Theo Mbabaliye, was studying at the University of Idaho when genocide broke out in his homeland of Rwanda in the mid-1990s. Desperately wanting to bring his wife, Immaculee Mukakalisa, to America, he sought help from Idaho’s Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, who successfully helped him in obtaining a visa for her. And so when a child was born to the couple, they named him Douglas Kempthorne – now a 17-year-old senior at Gonzaga Prep School, about to graduate and with the goal of going on to medical school.

The graduation for Three Springs High School will be June 4 at 5 p.m. at the Viking Room of Betz Elementary, 317 N. Seventh St., Cheney. Principal: Troy Heuett

Samoana Seelua didn’t think that college was an option. As a freshman, she says she was rebellious and she had a 0.83 GPA. “I wasn’t really motivated,” she said. “Nobody talked to me about college.”

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are:

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are:

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are:

Life is music to Gabe Saywers’ ears. The Liberty High senior’s love affair with music began as a fourth-grader with the trumpet.

When Austin Groves transferred to Map High School during his freshman year, he’d been missing more classes than he attended. Students at Map – an acronym for Multi-agency Adolescent Program – have a mental health diagnosis that interferes with learning, so the small, individualized school environment is tailored to their needs.

Chanoa Marx describes her middle-school mindset as uncaring, even horrible. She struggled socially, sat in the back of class, didn’t listen as teachers taught. Change came after her decision to attend Barker High School because of its small size.

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are:

The staff at MEAD Alternative High School often welcomes students who are in crisis or going through difficult times – but Cassie Gordon’s situation was extreme. “Cassie came to school straight from the hospital. She’d been hospitalized for an eating disorder,” said Carole Allen, her teacher. Gordon had been diagnosed with anorexia at 13 and the disease progressed to the point where her family feared for her life.

Not many high school students have completed coursework with NASA and planned a mission to Mars – but Theresa Sievert has. As a junior, the 4.0 Mead student took an online class as part of the Washington Aerospace Scholars program. “The classes are put on by NASA through the University of Washington,” Sievert said.

Class of 2014 Expected to graduate are: