Caps off to the top grads at Oak Harbor High School

They’ve worked hard for their accomplishments, and now the Oak Harbor High School class of 2025 is ready to turn their tassels and graduate June 14.

The Whidbey News-Times asked ten seniors at the top of their class about their fondest memories, advice for underclassmen, post-graduation plans and more.

Onniecka Gee

Becoming president of Orchestra Club and reviving the club to be the most successful it has ever been is Onniecka Gee’s greatest accomplishment of her high school career.

She also participated in Band Club, describing her high school experience as fun, exciting and filled with a lot of adventures and new experiences.

Along the way she overcame the challenges she faced by not letting them get to her. She kept going no matter what and didn’t quit anything she had started.

“Don’t give up because when you have completed all that needs to be done, you’ll be proud of yourself for continuing,” she advised underclassmen.

She plans to go to a four-year college to study environmental science.

Lilly Grubbs

Lilly Grubbs described her experience as a time of growth. Moving from Jacksonville, Florida and beginning high school wearing masks made her an awfully shy person.

“I was stuck in my shell for a while until I gained some good friends through sports and other clubs, such as NJROTC,” she said, adding that it helped her become more comfortable with public speaking and taking charge.

In NJROTC, she participated on the Unarmed Drill Team, the Physical Fitness Team, the Color Guard Team, the Academic Team and Unarmed Duals. Her junior year she was named the Unarmed Drill Team Commander and her senior year she was promoted to the Command Master Chief for the Battalion.

Grubbs joined several other sports and clubs throughout her four years in Oak Harbor, including volleyball, basketball and track, becoming team captain for all three during her last year of high school. She was also a part of the National Honor Society (treasurer senior year), S.P.A.R.K. (secretary senior year), and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

She considers earning the title of district champion for javelin to be her greatest accomplishment during her high school career. In fact, she plans to throw javelin on the track and field team at Hillsdale College in Michigan, where she will study exercise science.

Saxon Gluth

Like many of his fellow top seniors, Saxon Gluth kept busy with a variety of different activities, including tennis, golf, macho volleyball, homecoming court and a Skills USA welding competition. On top of sports and schoolwork, he also held down two jobs.

He recalled studying to pass the exams for two of his hardest classes, AP Physics and AP Calculus, to be the most challenging.

“My Senior Skip Day is one of my fondest memories,” he said. “Spending the day with my friends, and getting to do what we wanted, as part of the tradition.”

His advice for younger students is simple: don’t wait too late to try.

After high school, Gluth will go to college to become a firefighter and EMT.

Tristan Griffith

Tristan Griffth faced the challenge of maintaining his high GPA while experiencing the risk of homelessness, but he overcame this by doing what he had to and staying focused, putting his future first.

“I think my greatest accomplishment was securing a full ride to Washington State University’s engineering program due to all the work I put in to my high school career,” he said, adding that he hopes to work for NASA one day.

He described his high school experience as “eye-opening,” a time for learning about himself. He feels that the lessons he learned will have a major impact on his life.

When asked about his advice for underclassmen, Griffith said progress isn’t a straight line but as long as you’re consistently working, you’ll see results.

He participated in Leadership, National Honor Society, Wildcat Philanthropy, band, tennis, Link Crew, College in the High School and ASB.

Courtney Williams

After she graduates, Courtney Williams is going to the University of Washington to study cellular, molecular and developmental biology.

She competed in competitions through Skills USA, including an engineering one last year that placed 10th in the nation for its innovative idea of an all-inclusive alarm pill case that her team called “Pill-Pal,” which Williams considers to be one of her greatest accomplishments.

Besides Skills USA, she was also part of robotics, the National Honor Society, Link Crew and tennis. She has fond memories of hanging out in hotel rooms with her friends during robotics competitions, playing cards, video games and even just talking.

The biggest challenge she faced was time management because being involved in so many extracurriculars made it difficult for her to have time for jobs, hobbies and loved ones. She eventually cut back to create more time for herself, friends and family.

“It’s really good to have a full resume and to be committed to a lot of things but make sure one of those commitments is also yourself,” she advised. “Take time to be an individual outside of your high school career and to love being a teenager.”

Audrey Hart

Throughout her high school career, Audrey Hart experienced hardships, incredible victories and most of all, she developed the sincerest friendships in the unlikeliest of places.

She held officer positions for NJROTC, NHS, ASB and her own club SPARK, as well as being an active member of FCA and No Strangers. She also competed for both varsity track and field and varsity soccer and served as the varsity soccer team captain this most recent season.

She encouraged underclassmen to be involved in clubs and sports because it’s where she found many friends she still has today.

“I believe my greatest accomplishment isn’t found on paper, but it is how I have developed and grown over the past four years, and learning to challenge myself and pushing myself to try new things; becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she said.

She will be attending the United States Naval Academy to major in mechanical engineering with a minor in biology.

Emma Newman

Moving between three different states – Hawaii, Virginia and Washington – proved to be the biggest challenge for Emma Newman, whose dad is in the Navy. Still, it made her four years of high school feel like an adventure, and coming to Oak Harbor offered some amazing opportunities, including the chance to participate in the Seattle Youth Symphony.

Newman has always been involved in her schools’ orchestra programs, so she also joined wind ensemble in Oak Harbor to continue learning music in school. She’s proudest of her prepping for college music auditions, and getting accepted to the School of Music, Theater, and Dance at the University of Michigan. She plans to major in music education.

When asked about her favorite high school memory, Newman responded, “My music director stepped in one time to keep me from losing at chess to a friend, and continued to completely demolish them. It was amazing.”

She recommends joining clubs, sports or band (or all of the above) as an amazing way to build genuine friendships. These connections will keep you going even when things are tough.

Kimora Lynch

Kimora Lynch’s fondest memory from high school involves a ski trip she took with Skagit Valley College’s Outdoor Club as a Running Start student alongside her two best friends. Naturally, as beginners to the sport, they spent most of their lesson falling over and taking forever to get back up.

“It was one of those moments where we were learning something new, laughing through the awkwardness and just enjoying the experience together,” Lynch said.

It turns out that high school can be summed up this way, too. Lynch described overcoming social anxiety by doing Key Club food drives outside of stores. Asking strangers for donations was a nerve-wracking experience, but it was here where she was able to hear the voices of the community she was helping.

She also enjoyed her time in the Ecology Club and the National Honor Society. In addition, she worked as a peer mentor for physics and the Java programming language.

She described high school as a space where she got to grow her branches and learn to prune them. She considers her greatest accomplishment to be finding her own voice and using it to serve herself and others.

In the fall she’s headed to the University of Washington to study computer science with a focus in security.

Valerie Gerdes

“Character building, challenging and rewarding” were the words Valerie Gerdes used to paint a picture of her high school experience. She participated in many extracurricular activities, including robotics, choir, National Honor Society and Link Crew.

Financial concerns throughout high school were the biggest challenges she faced. She worked a part-time job to help make ends meet and sought out resources to help relieve barriers.

“There are systems in place designed to help you, and if they’re not fitting your needs, be vocal about it until those needs are satisfied,” she advised. “Don’t be afraid to reach out for help or ask questions, even if you think they’re dumb questions.”

Her fondest memories come from mentoring a FIRST Lego League team and from Lego robotics camps.

After high school she will go to the University of Washington to study electrical and computer engineering.

Karen Salinger

From Friday night lights to volleyball game days to spirit weeks and fun classes, high school has given Karen Salinger some of the best memories that she will cherish forever.

She participated in varsity volleyball and track and field as well as clubs such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which she helped start at her high school, as well as ASB, National Honor Society and Wildcats 4 Life. She also loved being part of leadership events, such as coaching macho volleyball and playing in girls flag football.

Her hardest challenge was tearing her ACL and meniscus in March 2024 at a club volleyball tournament. This was a devastating injury since she was in the middle of her college recruiting season and had her senior season of high school volleyball still ahead of her.

“However, I trusted in God, knowing that He has a plan for me and that, while a long and hard recovery, He was going to help bring me through,” she said. “Thanks to His abundant goodness and faithfulness, after ten months, I was cleared to play volleyball again and God continued to help and guide me and provided me with a scholarship to go play volleyball at Colorado Christian University this fall.”

She plans to major in secondary education.

She advises younger students to make as many new friends as they can because high school is more fun when you have someone to chat with on the way to class. She would also tell them to trust in God’s plan for everyone.