The top graduating students and scholarship recipients from W.F. West High School introduce themselves to a crowd at Great Wolf Lodge on Thursday, May 16, 2019.
Tom O’Keefe gives the keynote speech during the annual Rob Fuller Scholarship Luncheon Thursday, May 16, 2019.
(Left to right) Peter Abbarno, Deborah Collinsworth and Alicia Bull stand in front of a crowd at Great Wolf Lodge Thursday, May 16, 2019, as Abbarno presents the first scholarship dedicated to the memory of Centralia teen Cheyllyn Collinsworth.
Top granduating students and scholarship recipients from Centralia High School line up Thursday, May 16, 2019, to introduce themselves and discuss their plans for the future.
Two groups of students — one representing the graduating class of Centralia High School and the other from W.F. West High School — stood in front of a packed house at Great Wolf Lodge Thursday, taking turns holding a mic and briefly addressing their plans after graduation.
The annual Rob Fuller Scholarship Luncheon, put on by the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, started late that morning and spanned into the early afternoon, in an event meant to honor the top 25 students from the two schools and various scholarship recipients.
Each student was sponsored by a local business, and many of them sat with their sponsors as they enjoyed their lunch. Alicia Bull, director of the Chamber, expressed how much the event has grown as she addressed the crowd.
“It takes a lot of time and effort to be a top 25 student,” she said, praising the students and the school administrators who’ve seen them through.
Tom O’Keefe, CEO of O’Keefe Development and the driving force behind a $100 million UNFI grocery distribution center in Centralia, served as the event’s keynote speaker. He encouraged the students to keep an eye out for people around them who might need a helping hand, and to find ways to get involved with their communities.
Scholastic achievement is great, he said, but any form of status doesn’t mean much if it isn’t used to improve your surroundings.
“I urge all of you to, No. 1, get involved in your communities in any way you can … whether it be church, education, health or welfare. And No. 2, look for the people around you … and spend some time taking care of them and looking out for them,” he said.
Even decades after graduating high school, O’Keefe said the most influential people in his life were coaches and counselors he met during those formative years.
A number of individuals, representing either businesses or organizations within the Twin Cities, presented $1,000 scholarships to various students.
Lauren Balmelli was presented a scholarship from Rainier Connect; Kendra Sutton from Title Guaranty of Lewis County; Danika Jensen from Centralia Community Foundation and Alida Ellingson from Boys & Girls Club of Chehalis. Three students — Mackenzie Moore, Josie Rosbach and Taylor Barker — were given scholarships from the Visiting Nursing Foundation.
Taylor Rolfe was the lone Adna High School student presented with a scholarship — the Olivia Mitchell Scholarship, named for the Adna student who passed away unexpectedly in 2014 from a heart defect.
City council member and attorney Peter Abbarno took to the stage along with Deborah Collinsworth, to present the first ever Cheyllyn Collinsworth Scholarship, named in honor of the Centralia teen who was killed in a collision with an impaired driver in 2017. Abbarno said Deborah Collinsworth read through the applications herself to select the most deserving recipient. The $1,000 scholarship went to Anastasia Ulrigg.
For the Rob Fuller Scholarship — named for the late president of Fuller’s, who Bull dubbed “one of the most giving people I have ever known” — eight students were called onto the stage.
They were: Colby White, Lexis Haller, Liliyana Erickson, Sarah Haakenson, Madeline Haakenson, Tessa Smith, Makayla Erickson and Nicole Allen.
After they took to the stage, Bull said each of them was receiving a $1,000 scholarship.
The top 25 students of Centralia High School are: Nicole Allen, Chance Bingley, William Brown, Jane Casey, Tawnee Craig, Nathan Crews, Alexis Deyoung, Kayla Dupont, Makayla Erickson, Jaelyn Friberg, Laura Geringer, Fatima Hernandez, Ruth Hopkins, Danika Jensen, Charles Leon, Athena Mano, Colby McCann, Hannah Porter, Alexa Raish, Hannah Roberts, William Rose, Tessa Smith, Garrett Strophy, Kendra Sutton, Ashley Taylor and Anastasia Ulrigg.
The top 25 students of W.F. West High School are: Lauren Balmelli, Walker Becker, Sydney Cameron, Joelle Chung, Chase Conaway, Alida Ellingson, Liliana Ericson, Megan Flexhaug, Madeline Haakenson, Sarah Haakenson, Lexis Haller, Autumn Hurt, Dylan Jensen, Jolynn Karnas-West, Gabriela Martinez Gomez, Ali McMahan, Makenzie Moore, Andrew Pak, Christopher Powe, Alexus Sanchez, Haley Senderak, Madison Simper, Jessica Street, Colby White and Troy Yarter.
