Ronan High School graduates ready to soar
Susan Lake photo
Connor Benn holds his little sister after graduating from Ronan High. Benn earned a football scholarship to MSU-Northern.
Susan Lake photo
Guest speaker Gale Decker shared experiences from his life to encourage and prepare the graduates.
Susan Lake photo
Ronan High School Class of 2014
Susan Lake photo
Ronan High School Class of 2014
Susan Lake photo
Ronan graduate Jarred Dupuis earned a $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
Susan Lake photo
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Ronan High School launched 65 graduates on Sunday with words of wisdom and surrounded by a gymnasium packed with friends and family. Valedictorian Shannon Saint and Salutatorian Tyler Sassaman both offered succinct statements to their classmates.
Guest speaker Gale Decker, a 1966 Ronan High School graduate, is currently serving as a Lake County Commissioner.
Decker was also a Ronan schools educator and coach for more than 30 years, and the group of grads included quite a few cross country boys and girls and basketball kids that he coached, Decker said later in an interview.
“Some of them, you watched them when they came into middle school, pretty soon they were freshmen, and now they are out the door and on their way,” Decker said. “It just seems like the time goes by so fast.”
In his talk to the graduates, Decker offered four life lessons: be prepared for change, know the difference between disappointment and discouragement, pick battles in life that are small enough to win but large enough to make a difference, and, “Sometimes you have to put things that happen to you in life in the ‘I don’t know folder,’” Decker said.
“Don’t use disappointment to give up on a dream you have,” Decker said. “Nothing worth having usually comes easily.”
The Ronan Class of 2014 includes: Nicholas N Adamson, Tyson S Allen, Trenton M Anderson, Tyler James Anderson, Brennan T Andrews, Daniel P Aylesworth, Cody TD Baer, Lindsay Rachelle Barber, Connor J Benn, Shelby L Benson, Samuel R Bixby, Jasmine Leigh Bocksnick, Ashley T Boles, Daniel J Brueckmann, Shyann L Brum, Cassidy N Cheff, Raymi Clairmont, Rachel Haley Cordis, Tucker A Courville, Ron A Cullis, Brandon B DuMont, Jarred M Dupuis, Bradly W Findly, Shayne M Friesen, Lucas C Gerhardt, Jade Alexxis Gray, Austin Ryan Hakes, Keenan Rain Hall, Malia Renee Hamel, Eric M Hammer, Kiana Lea Howell, Madison Payge Kelly, Megan C Leafty,Jo-Hanna L Lien, Alaina R Madsen Nicole J McCready, Stephanie Taylor McDonald, Jaden T McNair, Tanner Z Mead, Tyrel Miller, Brittney L Mock, Courtney N Molzhon, Angela R North Piegan, Thomas J Oschmann, Ryan M Pablo, Justin T Probst, Chase J Rhine,Steven M Roberts, Christine L Robinson, Lindsey M Rogers, Warittha Saejia, Shannon H Saint, Tyler William Sassaman, Ashley N Sheumaker, Ethen B Sheumaker, Cheyanne M Smith, Logan O’C Soukkala, Jacob Stenstrom, Courtney Marie Taylor, Mark Toler, Holt F. Grayson Walchuk, Tyr (TJ) Webb, Timothy Q Woll, Sophia C Woodcock and Rilea M Yankey.
Salish Kootenai College presented scholarships to the following students: Nicholas Adamson, Samuel Bixby, Tucker Courville, Brandon DuMont, Jarred Dupuis, Malia Hamel, Eric Hammer, Kiana Howell, Stephanie McDonald, Angela North Piegan, Ryan Pablo, Jacob Stenstrom and Sophia Woodcock.
Other scholarship awards are as follows:
Allen Tyson – $4,000 University of Montana Resident Scholarship.
Lindsay Barber – $500 St. Luke Community Healthcare Scholarship.
Connor Benn – $500 James J Benn III Memorial Scholarship and a $5,600 Montana State University Northern football scholarship.
Shelby Benson – $500 Ronan Pioneer Days Scholarship, a $24,000 Ellen Shields Endowed Scholarship, and a $1,000 Serve Montana Governor’s Service Scholarship.
Raymi Clairmont – $500 Pepsi Scholarship.
Rachel Cordis – $4,000 University of Montana Resident Scholarship and a $500 Ronan Pioneer Days Scholarship.
Ron Cullis – $600 Lake County 4-H Scholarship.
Brandon Dumont – $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
Jarred Dupuis – $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
Bradly Findly – $1,000 Muralts Scholarship.
Jade Gray – $3,000 National Multiple Sclerosis Society Scholarship, a $35,000 Northern Arizona University Western Undergraduate Exchange Program, and $100 Shad Burland Memorial Scholarship.
Keenan Hall – $10,000 Carroll College Merit Scholarship.
Malia Hamel – $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
Eric Hammer – $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
JoHanna Lien – $300 Lake County 4-H Council Scholarship, $500 K William Harvey Memorial Scholarship, and $2,000 L. Dorrene Darlington Memorial Scholarship.
Alaina Madsen – $8,000 Eastern Washington University Dean’s Scholarship, a $500 Ronan Western Club Scholarship, and a $500 Allison Crenshaw Memorial Scholarship.
Stephanie McDonald – $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
Brittany Mock – $500 Ebba Webb Scholarship.
Courtney Molzhon – $500 Tim Ryan Mission Valley Scholarship.
Angela North Piegan – $50 award from the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens Essay Contest, a $500 Pepsi Scholarship, a $250 Mission Valley 3 on 3/ Steve Woll and Family Scholarship, and a $3,000 Blackfeet Higher Education Scholarship.
Ryan Pablo – $5,610 scholarship from Dawson Community College and a $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
Shannon Saint – $8,000 Governor’s Best and Brightest Scholarship, $500 Kenny Sagmiller ALS Foundation Scholarship, $5,000 Community Bank Scholarship, $2,600 Montana State University School of Music Scholarship, and $8,000 Montana State University College of Agriculture James and Margie Robertson Memorial Scholarship.
Tyler Sassaman – $26,000 Montana State University Honor Scholarship.
Courtney Taylor – $300 Valley Bank Scholarship, a $1,000 Masonic Lodge Scholarship, and a $8,000 University of Montana Resident Scholarship.
Sophia Woodcock – $5,000 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Higher Education Scholarship.
