Benny Westcott
Cannon Klumph and Selah Wright have been named this year’s Sweet Home High School Freshmen of the Year.
The award is decided by SHHS staff members based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement.
Both students ended their freshman year with a 4.00 GPA.
Klumph, 15, is the son of Brent Klumph, who works at Oregon State University’s research forest. He has a brother, Max Klumph, who is 17.
He competes in soccer, basketball and track at the high school, and works for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Greater Santiam.
When he heard he received the award, he was “pretty excited about it.” He added “I’m just trying to be better than my brother, since he also got it.”
In his free time Klumph enjoys exercising, as well as board games.
He wants to pursue a career teaching math after high school, following in the footsteps of his mother, Melissa Klumph, who died in 2021 after teaching math at SHHS for nearly 20 years.
“My mom did it, and I’d like to do it as well,” Klumph said. “It seems like fun.”
His favorite class at the high school last year was programming.
Tomas Rosa, who taught Klumph in his English class, said “He’s super involved. I think he excels at a lot academically, and so what I’ve seen him do is kind of challenge himself by getting involved in sports, clubs and activities. And in the classroom, he’s always usually done with his work and looking for other things to do.”
Wright, also 15, is the daughter of Garret Wright, a timber faller, and Heather Wright, a farmer. She is the younger sister of Seth, 23, Corbin, 21, Micah, 19, and Lydia, 17.
Wright competes in basketball and track for the high school and participates in 4-H and FFA.
She said she was really excited to get the award because “Me and my sister both got it.”
Wright enjoys adventuring and exploring in her free time, including camping and hiking.
She wants to be a large animal veterinary technician later in life. “I grew up around cows and large animals, so I want to be a vet tech so I can help out,” she said.
Her favorite class last year was world geography.
Rosa taught Wright in his Leadership class.
“Selah has a really good ability to take direction,” he said. “The Wrights run a working farm, so she’s obviously accustomed to working. But what impresses me is her ability to take a little bit of direction and put it into consideration, and adjust what she’s doing and make it even better.
“A lot of times kids come in and they’re very confident, which is an awesome skill to have, but they also don’t take a lot of redirection. Selah’s not that way; she’ll listen to any kind of advice that you have, take it, twist it, use it, and then do good things with it.”