Students from Sweet Home or with local ties, who graduated June 14 from Oregon State University, included:
Leah K. Keesecker, bachelor of science, merchandising management; Casey A. Myers, bachelor of arts, English; Paige V. Niemi, bachelor of science, magna cum laude, exercise and sport science, master of science, exercise and sport science; Traci C. Porter, bachelor of arts, cum laude, English; Ryan W. Regrutto, bachelor of science, civil engineering; Sarah E. Rosa, bachelor of science, exercise and sport science; Joshua D. Rist, master of arts teaching: music education; Elizabeth S. Ryan, master of business administration and accountancy; Nickalaus T. Turner, bachelor of science, cum laude, merchandising management; and Nathan J. Whitfield, bachelor of science, industrial engineering.
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The University of Oregon reported one Sweet Home graduate among the 3,759 students who completed work toward 3,873 degrees, who were recognized at the June 16 commencement.
Alisha M. Huschka graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in educational foundations. Magna cum laude means her final GPA was in the top 5 percent of the graduating class.
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Nicholas Blake of Sweet Home, son of Dr. Alan and Zsuzsa Blake, graduated with honors from
Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine on June 2. He will complete his residency in family practice at Missoula, Mont., then plans to return to rural Oregon to practice family medicine.
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Tami Lynn Keesecker of Sweet Home was among 743 students who graduated June 1 from Linfield College. She earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing.
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Caroline Amendola of Sweet Home earned placement on the Gonzaga University President’s List for spring semester 2014. Students must earn a 3.7 to 4.0 grade point average to be listed.
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Jessica Snow of Sweet Home earned placement on the University of St. Thomas’ Dean’s Honor List for spring semester 2014. Students must earn a 3.50 grade point average or above to make the list.
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Former Sweet Home resident Micah Villarreal graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy on May 28.
Villarreal, who attended Sweet Home High School before moving to Salem, where he graduated from South Salem High School, had his 2nd Liutenant’s bars pinned on by his parents, Michael and Sarah and then was saluted, as an officer, by his younger brother Daniel, who is a cadet at the Air Force Academy.
Micah Villarreal graduated with a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and has been assigned to be a cyberspace operations officer (17D) stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.
During college, he made the Dean’s List seven out of eight semesters, was on the Athletic Director’s List five semesters, and was on the Commandant’s List (military honors) three semesters, making the Superintendent’s List (all three honors simultaneously) three times.
He was a member of the USAFA powerlifting team, competing at 181 pounds and took first place in his division at the state collegiate meet and qualified for nationals.
He also participated in soaring and jump programs, and spent six days in the woods with minimal food and shelter during Combat Survival Training.
He was a 2nd Basic Cadet Training Element Leader, 2nd Basic Cadet Training Flight Commander, and Group Director of Athletics, overseeing intramural athletics and fitness tests for 1,000 cadets.
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The Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation, Girod Scholarship committee, Easton Scholarship committee and Dinges Scholarship committee have announced winners of their scholarships for 2014.
The Girod Committee gave five scholarships this year for a total of $12,000. Winners are:
n Mark Sah, in his fourth year at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest (COMP-Northwest)
n Amanda Groff, in her first year at COMP-Northwest
n Michael Barish, in his second year at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU)
n Alexander Legg, in his second year at OHSU
n Erica Snow, in her third year at Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York
The family of the late Dr. Frank Girod, MD, one of the founding members of Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, awards this scholarship every year in Girod’s honor to students from east Linn County who are pursuing careers in medicine.
The family of the late Rachel Easton, a longtime nurse at Samaritan’s Park Street Clinic, awards the Rachel Easton, RN, Scholarship each year in her honor to an east Linn County area student enrolled in a nursing program. This year’s scholarship went to Ashley Culver, of Lebanon, a nursing student at Linn-Benton Community College.
John and Carol Dinges of Lebanon award the Dinges Medical Scholarship every year to a graduate of a high school in east Linn County who is currently enrolled in an entry-level health career program at LBCC. This year, the award went to Haley Daniels of Lebanon, for her medical studies at LBCC. Her goal is a degree in nursing.
For more information about any of these scholarships, visit samhealth.org/Scholarships.