Jacob Farmer / jfarmer@yelmonline.com
Over $70,000 in scholarships were presented at Rainier High School’s senior awards night on Tuesday, June 3, just days before the Class of 2025 celebrated its graduation that Friday.
Senior valedictorian Bryn Beckman led the awardees, receiving $19,000 across nine individual scholarships. Beckman was also presented the Rainier High School Citizenship Award, along with four department awards for high honors in English, social studies, math and science.
Zander Peck received $9,000 across three individual scholarships and was awarded male athlete of the year. Janess Blackburn was awarded female athlete of the year.
The Rainier Education Foundation issued the bulk of the money on the night, with 13 seniors receiving REF scholarships inside the Mountaineer Gym.
“But students have to work for their scholarship,” Tracy Carli, REF treasurer and auction chair, reminded the audience. “We have an interview team that interviews the students, we have a separate team that (reviews) their applications. And when we’re deciding dollar amounts for tonight’s scholarships, we don’t have names, we have only percentages of the two scores put together.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, school counselor Mike McGuire remarked on the total number of scholarships awarded to Rainier seniors.
“I tallied up all the scholarships that were just given tonight — it was just over $70,000 to our students,” McGuire said.
McGuire added that this figure did not include the other scholarships the students received, including the outside merit scholarships offered by their collegiate institutions of choice.
“My guess is that we are over $200,000 of scholarship money and money earned by our Rainier High School seniors,” McGuire said. “So quite impressive tonight.”
The school counselor concluded by thanking the Rainier community groups and individuals who supported the Class of 2025.
“You guys all make Rainier a great place to live, work and go to school.”
More than half of the 2025 graduating class completed two full years — or four semesters — within a given Career and Technical Education (CTE) program while at Rainier.
“This year, we have more than 50 percent of this graduating class earning hands-on skills that will allow them to be able to work as they continue,” CTE Director Sandy Rossmaier said before honoring the completers. “Additionally, some of these students have qualified for dual credit or college credit that’s directly transcripted by the college, plus many of these students have earned industry certification this year through OSHA… (and) several different programs.”
“They are ready for the real world,” Rossmaier said.
Here is the full list of awards and scholarships presented on Tuesday:
Awards and Honors:
• Valedictorian — Bryn Beckman
• Salutatorian — Orion Dobson
• Top 5 Students — Bryn Beckman, Orion Dobson, Ella Marvin, Alexander Sample, Keira Anderson
• Citizenship Award — Bryn Beckman
• Outstanding Senior Athletes — Janess Blackburn, Zander Peck
• National Honor Society Recognition — Bryn Beckman (president), Keira Anderson (treasurer), Ella Marvin (Associated Student Body representative), Alexander Sample (member)
• High Honor Students (3.5-4.0 cumulative GPA) — Keira Anderson, Sarah Barry, Bryn Beckman, Janess Blackburn, Kaleb Decremer, Orion Dobson, Gavin Foley, Esther Ireland, Ella Marvin, Emma Mathson, Acacia Murphy, Olivia Osborne, Zander Peck, Connor Power, Alexander Sample, Mikkie Shaw, Brooklynn Swenson, Makenna Wayland, Loren Wellman, Annabelle Whiteman
• Honor Roll — Lance Egge, Madison Ingram, Tyler Kempinski, Romeo Linson, Jacob Meldrum, James Meldrum
• Presentation of Military Service — Lance Egge, United States Marine Corps
Scholarship Presentations
• Yelm Eagles Scholarships — Josh Meldrum ($500), Tyler Kempinski ($250), Jacob Meldrum ($250)
• Sgt. Justin Norton $5,000 Memorial Scholarships — Sarah Barry, Bryn Beckman, James Meldrum, Zander Peck
• That Hose Guy Scholarships — Bryn Beckman ($2,000, continuing education); Emma Mathson ($1,500, work force); Josh Meldrum ($1,500, entrepreneur); Jacob Meldrum ($1,300); James Meldrum ($1,000); Janess Blackburn ($1,000)
• Peyton Poler Memorial $3,000 Scholarship — Bryn Beckman
• Baker Family/Joe Baker Memorial $700 Scholarship — Loren Wellman
• TwinStar Credit Union $2,000 Scholarship — Bryn Beckman
• Riffe Holmes Christian Memorial $4,000 Scholarship — Kieler Jackson
• L&E Bottling $1,000 Scholarship — Bryn Beckman
• Thurston County Cattle Scholarship — Tyler Kempinski
• Jim Miller Memorial $1,000 Scholarship — Bryn Beckman
• Rainier Education Foundation (REF) Scholarships — Keira Anderson ($2,000), Sarah Barry ($2,500), Bryn Beckman ($3,500), Janess Blackburn ($2,000), Tyler Kempinski ($1,000), Ella Marvin ($3,500), Jacob Meldrum ($1,000), James Meldrum ($1,000), Josh Meldrum ($1,000), Acacia Murphy ($1,500), Zander Peck ($3,000), Brooklynn Swenson ($2,500), Loren Wellman ($1,500)
• REF Larry Schorno $1,000 Scholarship — Bryn Beckman, Zander Peck
• REF Aschenbrenner/Miller $500 Scholarship — Sarah Barry, Bryn Beckman
• Department Awards for High Honors (3.8-4.0 Cumulative GPA):
- English — Keira Anderson, Sarah Barry, Bryn Beckman, Orion Dobson, Ella Marvin, Olivia Osborne, Alexander Sample, Loren Wellman, Annabelle Whiteman
- Social Studies — Bryn Beckman, Ella Marvin, Olivia Osborne, Alexander Sample
- Math — Keira Anderson, Bryn Beckman, Orion Dobson, Ella Marvin, Olivia Osborne, Alexander Sample, Makenna Wayland
- Science — Keira Anderson, Bryn Beckman, Orion Dobson, Ella Marvin, Olivia Osborne, Alexander Sample, Makenna Wayland, Loren Wellman, Annabelle Whiteman
Career and Technical Education Completers
• Agriculture — Kaleb Decremer (Dual: Shop), Lance Egge, Gavin Foley, Russell Karnes, Skylar Weschler
• Business & Leadership — Sarah Barry, Bryn Beckman, Janess Blackburn, Toby Borman, Orion Dobson, Mireya Guzman-Rodriguez, Hunter Howell, Kieler Jackson, Tyler Kempinski, Emma Mathson, Jacob Meldrum, James Meldrum, Josh Meldrum, Acacia Murphy, Landon Neal, Tristan Potts (Dual: Shop), Brooklynn Swenson (Dual: Agriculture), Loren Wellman
• Accounting — Keira Anguiano Navarro, Angelica Askey
• Family & Consumer Science — Denaliann Blizzard (Dual: Business), Emma Chambers (Dual: Business), Jaycee Keeney (Dual: Business), Connor Powers, Jetta Watkins (Dual: Business)
• Shop — Keira Anderson, Steven Johnston, Ella Marvin, Zander Peck, Gavin Scheidt, Brayden Waltman (Dual: Agriculture), Kaitlyn Ziemathis
