Latest news with #WahlukeHighSchool
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Excitement, emotion at Wahluke 2025 graduation
Jun. 12—MATTAWA — Standing in a packed hallway following the ceremony, new Wahluke High School graduate Juanairis Lopez said graduation was both exciting and disconcerting. "It feels awesome," he said. "But it went by too fast, that's for sure." Wahluke Principal Cody Marlow also talked about passing time in his address to the Class of 2025. "These last 13 years, they've flown by. Like I told you a few weeks ago, everything after tonight is going to go even faster," Marlow said. Valedictorian and class president Jose Lagunas said he hoped his classmates had made some good memories during their time in school. "I'm sure today is a day we've all looked forward to as we'll be done with school, even though some of us are going back to it in three months," he said. "However, I want to congratulate everyone in this room for graduating, as I'm sure it was no easy task doing so." It's a tradition at Wahluke that the seniors pick a guest speaker, and for social studies teacher Cole Collier, time had gone by much faster than he anticipated it would. Collier said his first year of teaching was the year the class of 2025 entered high school "To think that I was only an insecure 22-year-old figuring out lesson plans. Watching you graduate is something I will forever cherish," Collier said. "The class of 2025 are some of the most funny, kind and humble people I've ever met." Senior Alfredo Heredia said graduation was an exciting feeling, and Oscar Martinez agreed, adding that it gave him a sense of accomplishment. Evelin Dominguez said the excitement was mixed with the realization that a lot of new experiences are coming. "I'm very happy. It's a new chapter," she said. "And (there is) nervousness what the future holds." So many family members and friends came to the graduation that they overflowed the available seating in the WHS gym. That's one of the traditions at Wahluke; another is the rose ceremony. The graduates present roses to some of the people who supported them during their school days, and both recipients and students shed some tears as the seniors fanned out through the crowd. Salutatorian Stephany Elias also shed a few tears while paying tribute to her mom and dad and thanking the teachers, coaches and other adults who supported the seniors during their school years. For Elias, that included the district's track and cross country coaches. "Your coaching has pushed me past my limits," she said. "Thank you to all of my coaches who gave me the confidence to push myself when I believed there was no more to give." Class advisor Mayra Rodriguez expressed gratitude to the Class of 2025 for the support they had given her through the changes in her life. "I can't wait to see all the things you will accomplish in life," she said.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Wahluke High students bring home SkillsUSA medals
Apr. 16—MATTAWA — Wahluke High School junior Diana Barber said her performance in regional SkillsUSA competition left her a little unsure going into state competition. While she was satisfied with her performance on the test in the medical math category, she just wasn't sure. "I try not to get my hopes up," she said. She need not have worried. The Wahluke High School junior brought home the state championship. For their project in engineering technical design, Oliver Alcon, Miguel Garcia and Jose Lagunas tackled a subject that has challenged scientists, engineers, even alchemists for 1,500 years. "We have to find a real-world problem and we had to come up with a solution to it. And what we did was try to use magnetic energy to create some sort of perpetual motion machine that spins for a long time, and it's going to use magnetic DC current to transfer into electricity," Alcon said. The prototype had the potential to stay in motion for days, although not perpetually. It earned them third place in state competition. It was the second time Barbe earned a SkillsUSA state championship, which qualifies her for national competition in Atlanta later this year. She attended the national competition for extemporaneous speaking as a freshman. Medical math also asks students to take on a real-world problem. "It was medication dosages, converting them for weights, like how much medication you should give someone in kilograms, but your original number was pounds," she said. Competitors got two hours to answer 75 questions, and while it was challenging, Barber said she thought she was prepared. "If you memorize basic conversions — pounds to kilograms, inches to centimeters, milligrams to tablespoons, stuff like that — it's not too hard," she said. "You can make do." Barber is a student at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, Moses Lake, in the medical careers program. That provided a good place to study, she said. Whether or not she will attend the national competition is to be decided, since it's an expensive proposition. Alcon, Lagunas and Garcia have been working on their project since the start of the school year. Instructor Daniel Barajas said they chose the project. Alcon said they wanted to provide a way to make electricity in situations where other sources weren't available. He cited the example of an earthquake, which could damage the facilities that produce electricity and disrupt distribution systems. People might have access to generators, but the gas that typically powers a generator would eventually run out, and that distribution system too might be interrupted. It was more than a theoretical exercise. "We have to build it. We actually ended up creating a little prototype," he said. "We weren't able to build it right now with the technology we have, but later on, if we could actually do something big, it would be some sort of flywheel that's inside of a vacuum-sealed chamber, and use magnetic bearings to reduce friction and air resistance," he said. They found an experiment using those principles conducted in China. While it didn't produce perpetual motion, they estimated they could keep things in motion for two or three days. Barajas said all of the research had to be documented as part of the competition. Schools of every size compete at SkillsUSA, most of them a lot bigger — and some with a lot more money — than Wahluke. Barajas said WHS faculty works to come up with ways to ensure students can compete with anybody. He gave credit to engineering teacher John Ellsworth for his work with engineering and science students. The bronze medal was especially sweet for Jose Lagunas, who was competing for the third year and had never placed in the medal round, Barajas said. Barber said her class choices are part of getting ready for life after high school and a career in medicine. "I'd like to be a medical assistant, work in a clinic with patients. I think that is interesting," she said. Alcon, a senior, said he's been accepted at Whitworth University, and is planning on a career in engineering. "I plan to be an aerospace engineer," he said.
