Paige Niemi and Norajean Lemar have been named valedictorians for the Sweet Home High School Class of 2009, while Alysa Marner and Tanesia McDowell will serve as salutatorians for commencement exercises scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, June 5, at Husky Field.
The four are the top students in a class that, as of Monday, numbered 130 graduates who had completed their requirements to participate in the ceremonies.
Valedictorian Norajean Lemar
Lemar, 17, has a 4.0 GPA and has been involved in a wide variety of activities, including swimming for four years and playing water polo for two, working on the student newspaper and yearbook, membership in Key Club, playing the flute in concert band and serving as a cross-age tutor and cadet teacher at Holley School, as well as a Lunch Buddy.
She is the daughter of Tom and Phyllis Lemar, and has three brothers, Jon, 19, David, 18, and Shawn, 12.
She says her favorite class in high school was college-prep biology with teacher Billy Snow.
“He’s an amazing teacher,” she said.
She plans to attend Linn-Benton Community College for two years, then transfer to Oregon State University to study to become an elementary school teacher “hopefully, back here.”
Eventually, she said, she would like to earn her administrative license and become a principal.
She said that if she were to offer advice to a new high school freshman from her experience at Sweet Home, it would be to “work hard and don’t slack off €“ keep going for what you want to do.
“When I was a freshman,” she said, “I was a little intimidated. You need to keep working hard and stay on task.”
She said she particularly enjoyed swimming for Coach Doug Peargin and assistants Bruce West and Tia Sitton. She also enjoyed water, which was only offered during her sophomore and senior years.
“That was fun,” she said. “I love water polo.”
Valedictorian Paige Niemi
Niemi, 18, has a 4.0 GPA and also has been heavily involved in sports as well as other activities during her high school career.
She has played volleyball, basketball and softball for four years and has been in the Leadership class and Class Board for two years.
She is the daughter of Albert and Karen Niemi and the sister of Leslie, Carissa and Ashley, “who are all way older than me.”
She said she has enjoyed all her classes at the high school, though she said her favorite has probably been anatomy.
She plans to attend LBCC for a year, then move on to Oregon Institute of Technology, where she wants to graduate from the nuclear imaging program.
Niemi said she would advise incoming students to “get involved.”
“Four years goes by quicker than you think when you’re a freshman,” she said. “You don’t have the opportunity to make it up.”
She said she’s enjoyed her time at the high school because she likes the atmosphere.
“I felt like we all learn but it was fun,” she said. “I had a fun time doing projects.”
She said young students can’t worry about what people think about them.
“Have fun,” she said. “I think a lot of people won’t do games and stuff because they are afraid they’ll embarrass themselves.
But the rest of the school is doing it.
“The focus isn’t on you, so don’t worry about it.”
Salutatorian Alysa Marner
Marner, 18, has a 3.96 GPA and plans to become a nurse.
The daughter of Marlin and Kathy Marner, she has a sister, Bethany, 16, and a brother, Jacob, 13.
Her favorite class was college-prep chemistry with Cheryll Muntz, she said.
“I feel like I learned the most in that class,” she said. “Mrs. Muntz is kind of scary but awesome.”
During her high school years she played basketball as a freshman and sophomore and was active in the Josai Club for two years, which culminated in her trip to Japan last summer.
“The coolest thing was not only seeing how the culture is different than ours but going to a sushi bar,” she said. “I don’t like sushi but it was really cool how they cut the fish and made sushi right in front of you.”
She plans to attend LBCC to get her prerequisites out of the way, then study nursing, she said. After that, she wants to take on-line classes from Oregon Health Sciences University to earn her bachelor’s degree in nursing.
She said she’d like to work in labor or delivery, “or maybe in the emergency room” and wants to visit Mexico on vacations to help poor people there.
“That’s where I decided I wanted to become a nurse,” she said, relating how she went on a missions trip to La Paz in Baja California.
She said that, as a graduating senior, she’d advise new students to “think for themselves.
“Know who you are and what you believe in,” she said. “Just because a teacher tells you something, check it out for yourself.”
Salutatorian Tanesia McDowell
McDowell, 18, has a 3.967 GPA and has been involved in many activities during her high school career, including cheerleading, the newspaper and yearbook, Amnesty International, Leadership and track and field. She was the co-captain of the cheer squad this year.
She is the daughter of Marvin and Jadea Taylor and has one brother, Tim, 16.
She said she enjoys English and art in particular during her high school years.
“I like art because it gives such a freedom to express what you want to,” she said. “Especially independent art class, where you can pick your own projects.”
She said she also likes to read and write.
McDowell said she plans to attend Portland State University this fall, but isn’t sure what major she will pursue €“ “hopefully something that has to do with writing. Possibly teaching.”
She said that, as she is completing high school, she would advise new freshmen “not to take what you get at Sweet Home High School for granted.”
“At a lot of big schools kids tend to get lost,” she said. “Here, teachers get to know you and they call you by name, instead of saying ‘Hey, you there in the yellow shirt.’ This is more like a family than an institution.”
She said students also need to get involved.
“The things I’ve missed I never can get back,” she said. “This year was the first time I went to Mr. Husky. Me and Paige were in charge of it and that was difficult.
“Go try things so you don’t have regrets.”