Oak Harbor’s top graduates look forward

Another graduation season is here, and the ten seniors who are graduating at the top of their class at Oak Harbor High School are going on to do great things.

The class of 2022 were only sophomores when the world shut down due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. While the majority of their high school careers took place during a pandemic, these seniors surely seem to have made the most of it.

Alora Van Auken

Alora Van Auken plans to attend Central Washington University this fall to study biology. She acted as the Choir Club vice president and the Drama Club historian. She said her greatest accomplishment during high school was maintaining leadership positions and helping other students within the performing arts atmosphere.

She said of her pre-pandemic life: “I think all that I will remember is that I had less of a want to be at school, and I took being at school for granted. After two years of online school, all I wanted was to be back in the classroom.”

James Bond

James Bond is planning to attend Skagit Valley College for two years before transferring to the University of Washington Bothell. He said the thing he will remember most about his senior year is the mask mandate being lifted.

His class ranking was evidently a surprise as he said: “My funniest memory from high school was realizing that I’m apparently graduating in the top ten of my class.”

William Champignon

William Champignon will attend the University of Oregon. He considers his greatest accomplishment in high school to be the creation of two separate student-led jazz bands in two different high schools; one where he previously lived in San Diego, the other in Oak Harbor.

When asked what he would remember most about his pre-pandemic life, he said: “I’ll always remember the time that I spent with friends and family. I cherish every single one of them, especially after this pandemic and the move from San Diego to Oak Harbor.”

Kyle Hucko

Kyle Hucko is going to study chemistry for pre-med at the University of Washington-Seattle. He was the ASB president, Key Club president and the DECA president. His greatest accomplishment, he said, was working with his DECA team to get fourth place at the international competition.

His advice to underclassmen is: “Try new things; this is in the forms of clubs, sports, and talking to new people,” he said. “You will regret what you didn’t do a lot more than what you did.”

Tiana Jackson

Tiana Jackson is planning on attending Tacoma Community College. She participated in high school soccer, basketball, and track for four years and played on a premiere soccer team in Mount Vernon called Northwest United for eight years. She said her greatest accomplishment was “providing a fun, but still educational environment for my teammates and being able to hear them say that I was the reason they enjoyed playing sports.”

Her funniest memory was “when my soccer teammates decided to call me commander in chief because I tried to work with them and encourage them to try their best at practice,” she said.

Ashlyn LeClercq

Ashlyn LeClercq is attending the University of Washington College of Engineering in the fall. Her greatest accomplishment has been the work that she has done alongside her SkillsUSA engineering team.

“We have competed both at the state and national levels over the years, and recently have applied for a full patent on one of our inventions,” she said. “I am proud of what I have learned, and the experience I have gained from being a member of this team.”

Her advice to underclassmen is to have the confidence to try new things.

“I was new to Oak Harbor my freshman year, and was so terrified of joining the soccer team that I literally had to make myself run out to the field before I could change my mind and retreat back to the car,” she said. “Four years passed, and I had four amazing seasons with the school’s soccer team. Four seasons that I would not have had without the confidence to put myself out of my comfort zone.”

Ryan Levi

Ryan Levi plans to attend Western Washington University in the fall. He was offered entrance into the marine science, chemistry scholars, engineering scholars, and advancing excellence and equity science programs.

“I chose the AEES program,” he said. “It is my goal to earn my bachelor of science degree in chemistry. Selecting the AEES program will allow me to work with a small group of my first-year WWU peers to learn about undergraduate research projects in biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and astronomy.”

His advice to underclassmen would be: “not to worry about the simple things like a grade as long as you put in your best effort, you should be fine.”

Ben Servatius

Ben Servatius will attend Central Washington University and major in aeronautical science. He was on the tennis and sailing teams for all four years of high school and served as the president of the National Honor Society.

“My greatest accomplishment during my high school career was maintaining a balance between school and extracurriculars,” he said. “While keeping a 4.0 GPA was always a goal of mine, I am glad to have been able to play multiple sports, be a part of clubs, and be involved in the community at the same time.”

He described his funniest memory as: “Definitely during online school when I joined my advisory class from the ski lift at Mount Baker.”

Jonathan Tang

Jonathan Tang will attend UC Santa Barbara to study economics and accounting. He played varsity soccer for years and was involved in DECA and the Key Club. The soccer season is what he will remember most about his senior year.

His advice to underclassmen is: “Don’t stress too much about school, and find a good balance of your passions and academics.”

Katie Tieger

Katie Tieger will go to Washington State University and major in Biochemistry. She was the vice president of Band Club and section leader in Show Band. Her greatest accomplishment was staying on the honor roll every year and being part of the top ten of her graduating class.

The things she will remember most about her senior year were “the internship sites I had the opportunity of going to, which was part of my Human Body and Medical Internship class,” she said.