Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Two more salutatorians have been added for Sweet Home High School’s 2006 graduation, to be held at 7 p.m. Friday, June 9, at Husky Field.
Danielle Thireault and Caitlyn Snyder will join valedictorians Heidi Wilson, Caitlyn Thireault and Hayley Cole, and fellow salutatorian Emily Dascomb after school officials decided that the fact that the two had taken pass/no-pass classes should not count against them in calculating their final grade point averages, which were 3.98.
Caitlyn Snyder
Snyder, 18, is the daughter of Robert and Candace Snyder. Her father is an attorney and her mother teaches kindergarten at Crawfordsville School. She has one older brother, Nathan, who is married and lives in Philomath.
During her high school career, Snyder was involved in LINK, Junior Class Board, and the International Club during its sole year of existence, when she was a sophomore. She said she took four years of Spanish in high school and last summer took a two-week trip to England, France and Spain with two of her teachers and a group of other students, including the Thireaults.
She’s also a member of the National Honor Society.
Snyder said she plans to attend Cottey College, a two-year all-women’s school of approximately 300 students in Missouri, run by the women’s organization PEO, of which her mother and grandmother are members.
“I went and visited it last year,” she said. “I liked it a lot. Plus, I got a scholarship.”
She said one other thing that attracted her to Cottey was that students take a week-long trip to a foreign country for a week during their second year.
Snyder said she has not decided on a major yet, but “it’s a liberal arts school, so (her major) will probably have something to do with the humanities.”
Looking back over her time at Sweet Home High School, she said if she had it to do over again, she would try to get more active earlier.
“I’d try to keep the International Club going,” she said.
Danielle Thireault
Thireault, 18, whose twin sister Caitlin is a valedictorian this year, is the daughter of David and Cheryl Thireault.
Dani Thireault has been active in sports throughout her high school career, playing volleyball, basketball and softball throughout, except for last winter, when she underwent knee surgery.
She has taken honors and Advanced Placement classes throughout her high school career and said she particularly likes chemistry, physics and biology.
She was also involved in LINK, Junior Class Board and the National Honor Society.
She plans to attend the University of Oregon, where she wants to major in architecture.
“I just like designing things,” she said. “I’m pretty good with math and I like designing and calculating.”
She said she hasn’t been able to take any design classes yet.
“I was going to take drafting, but it didn’t work out” due to a conflict with sports practices, she said.
Thireault said that if she were to change anything about her high school experience, she, like Snyder, would have gotten more involved as a freshman and sophomore.
“I enjoyed being on the Class Board my junior year,” she said. “We planned the Homecoming dance. I like being involved.”