One-time top freshmen named to Jr. First Citizen honors

Scott Swanson

Elea Hewitt and Shawn Wolthuis have been selected Sweet Home’s 2016 Junior First Citizens.

They are among 16 high school seniors, two from every public school in the county, who have interviewed for selection as the county Junior First Citizens and a college scholarship. All of the 16 also are invited to ride on the program’s float in the Nov. 11 Albany Veterans Day Parade.

The annual event has been coordinated by the Insurance Associates of the Willamette Valley for 25 years. Honorees receive a variety of gifts from participating businesses.

This isn’t the first honor the two have shared at Sweet Home High School. They were also named Freshmen of the Year for 2013-14.

Still, they said, they appreciated being chosen for this honor, which serves as sort of a bookend, recognizing academic achievement and involvement in the community and on campus.

“It was definitely an honor to be chosen, Wolthuis said. “It’s even more of an honor to be placed on the same level as other students we met in the interviews.”

Hewitt said she felt any of the other five Sweet Home girls who interviewed with the selection committee “could have gotten it easily.”

“Even though they were extremely over-qualified, I was still able to get the nomination.”

Both have been involved in a wide variety of academic, community and athletic activities.

Hewitt, 17, is the daughter of Bo and Pam Hewitt. She has two sisters, Sarah and Josie, and works as a lifeguard at the Sweet Home Pool and helps on her family’s farm.

She has maintained a 4.00 GPA while taking a wide variety of honors and advanced preparatory classes in high school.

Hewitt is active in the Key Club, of which she is president, the South Santiam Youth Watershed Council and Symphonic Choir, is editor of The Huskian student newspaper, was a member of the 2016 Sportsman’s Holiday Court, a high school Class Board member for three years, and a youth representative involved in the drafting of the Ford Family Foundation’s Rural Development Initiative. She’s also a two-time member of the TeenPact leadership program’s Oregon Delegation, and participated in the Hugh O’Brian Youth leadership and the Portland-based Chicktech programs.

Hewitt has been a competitive swimmer nine years, including with the Sweet Home Swim Club, and has earned three varsity letters in swimming, qualifying for the state championships, ran cross-country this season and has twice lettered in track and field.

She plans to attend a “four-year university” and major in biomedical engineering or physics to prepare for a career in opthalmology.

Wolthuis, 16, is the son of Dr. Ivan and Rebecca Wolthuis. He has two brothers, Bradley and Mark, and a sister, Jenna.

He also works as a lifeguard at the pool and on his family’s farm.

Wolthuis has earned his Eagle Scout rank and took piano lessons until last year, he said. He’s also been involved with a wide variety of community activities, including working in the Rotary Club booth at festivals and helping with highway cleanups, participating in a trip to Guatemala in which local dentists, including his father, provided care for local people, and a wide variety of other service projects through his Church of the Latter Day Saints youth group and Scouts.

He’s been active in Swing Dance Club, Symphonic Choir and band, plays the organ, was a member of this year’s Homecoming Court and has a 4.0 GPA through three years of high school.

Wolthuis has played high school soccer, run track and cross-country, and has won multiple awards as a swimmer, which he has participated in for three years, both at the club and high school level.

He said he enjoys swimming the most of the activities he’s been involved in, “which is probably because I’ve spent lot of time doing it. It’s something I’ve learned to love. It’s taught me a lot – confidence, especially, and work ethic.”

Wolthuis plans to major in biophysics at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and after a two-year mission for his church, pursue dentistry, following in the steps of his father and grandfather.

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