Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Seniors Cody Turner and Paige Niemi have been selected as Junior First Citizens for Sweet Home High School.
The two were selected by a panel of teachers, school administrators and community members to represent the high school in the county competition in Lebanon on Tuesday, Oct. 14, which involved answering a question extemporaneously before another panel.
Niemi, 17, is the daughter of Albert and Karen Niemi and is the youngest of four sisters. She has been very involved in athletics at the high school since she was a freshman, playing volleyball, basketball and softball.
“(Sports) is a way to get involved,” she said. “I’m a fairly competitive person. And I like working with other people.”
She also has been part of the leadership class, in which she helps plan activities for the high school students.
“I like the atmosphere at Sweet Home High School,” she said. “It’s a great school.”
She helps in Community Chapel’s youth group, where she serves as a youth leader.
“I’m there if someone needs to talk to someone and isn’t comfortable talking to an adult,” she said.
Niemi, who was also Freshman Girl of the Year in 2005, said she feels honored to be chosen to represent the high school in the competition.
“I know a lot of other girls tried out that were really great people,” she said. “I was honored that I was chosen.”
Turner, 18, is the son of Ron and Susan Turner. He has one sister, Katie, who is a freshman at the high school this year.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” he said of the honor. “I didn’t really know what it was when it started, but someone told me I could get scholarships and it would count as activities in school.”
Turner hasn’t been involved in athletics at Sweet Home, but he’s known around campus for his computer abilities, he and Niemi said. In fact, that’s how he ended up in Leadership this year.
“I’ve only been involved in leadership for a month,” he said. “I’ve heard ‘Cody, we need you!’ many times. I was walking down the hall and a Leadership student grabbed me and ‘Cody, would you be interested in being our Leadership tech?'”
Turner said he agreed and is responsible this year for editing and producing videos “and anything that has to do with computers.” He’s been setting up video projectors and Powerpoint for teachers throughout the school since he was a freshman.
“I’m the one you go to when you have computer problems in school,” he said.
Turner said he’s been fixing computers since he was 12.
“It’s kind of a second job,” he said.
His goal is to design a new line of computers in a system that would offer an alternative to PC’s and Apple products, he said. He would like to go to Oregon State University for four years to major in computer engineering and design, Turner said. If he can’t afford to go for all four years, he said, he’ll start at Linn-Benton Community College and transfer to OSU.
Niemi said she also hopes to attend a four-year college, where she wants to major in the “medical field.
“I’m leaning toward radiology right now,” she said, noting that her older sister Ashley is a radiologist. “I’ve talked to her and she seems to really enjoy her job. It’s a good field to be in.”