Two Centralia College Students Chosen for the All-Washington Academic Team

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Two Centralia College students were honored on Thursday as members of the 2017 All-Washington Academic Team.

The representatives for Centralia College are Joseph Lawrence and Tyler Layden. The students were selected based on their academic achievement, community involvement and service to the college, according to a press release. 

Lawrence, 21, of Chehalis, is an engineering student with a 3.95 grade point average. He said his experience in the college’s Spanish classes has been transformative. After taking classes at Centralia College for a year through the Running Start program, Lawrence moved to Bolivia to study Spanish and assist at an orphanage. When he returned, he started volunteering as a Spanish interpreter at a low-income medical clinic. He is also a peer tutor on campus and works as a drafting technician at an engineering firm.

Layden, 18, of Chehalis, has a 4.0 grade point average and is working toward a transfer degree. As a child in a military family, he moved a lot, experiencing different schools, friends, and faces. A constant was the night sky, which fascinated Layden. He decided to become an astrophysicist. He is currently finishing his associate degree as a Running Start student. He is also president of the Centralia College’s applied physics and engineering club. Layden teaches a geometry class for struggling students at his high school.



The 65 members of this year’s All-Washington Academic Team represent all 34 community and technical colleges in the state. Each student will receive a $250 scholarship from KeyBank. 

The formal ceremony recognizing the team was held at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, according to a press release.