Moving On

EMMANUEL RODRIGUEZ TOPPENISH HIGH SCHOOL TOPPENISH — Laura Wise has spent her teaching career channeling her energy into helping students use art as a form of expression and encouraging them to utilize their everyday life experiences as an impetus for art. She’s made a lasting impression on numerous students by sharing her gift of art [...]

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The William O. Douglas Writing Project

By GEORGIA GEMPLER DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL William O. Douglas spent many of his formative years here in Yakima. After graduating in 1916 from North Yakima High School, now Davis High School, he attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, then Columbia Law School. Eventually, he became the longest-serving U.S. Supreme Court Justice in history. Today, the [...]

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The Village Musicians

By HANNAH KIVI and AZALEA KOESTLER UNLEASHED To some, Judges 5:11 is just another verse in the Bible. But to three local boys, it is the beginning of a dream. That’s the way the Wilkinson brothers — 18-year-old Riley, 16-year-old Landon, and 13-year-old Sean — feel about that particular scripture. The trio of teenage boys [...]

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Rodeo Queens

By HANNAH NAUGHTON DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL Brown faded boots kick up dust. Dust-licked hats shade freckled faces from the blistering sun. Hair and hay particles tickle the nose and tongue, while the stagnant aroma of cows hangs around the barn. Who knew that any kind of “royalty” could reside in such an atmosphere? But these [...]

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Model student

By HANNAH NAUGHTON DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL Lips are painted cherry red. Spidery-long legs are supported by three-inch heels. High cheekbones are sprinkled with white powder. Collarbones are laced with pearls. One might wonder: How did this 6-foot-tall sophomore become a work of art? For 15-year-old Sarah Joffs, a 10th-grader at West Valley High School, it [...]

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The gift of voice

By JENNA DAVISON EISENHOWER HIGH SCHOOL Vanessa Archer carries her voice in a cart. In the carrier, which she has used since fourth grade, she also keeps other things she needs for class, such as books and papers. The senior at Eisenhower High School has athetoid cerebral palsy, which means a part of her brain [...]

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The French-Canadian Connection

By HANNAH BESSO DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL Sebastien Lachance Barrett grew up speaking French. The 18-year-old senior moved to the United States a little over two years ago, and it’s already difficult for his classmates at Davis High School to tell he wasn’t born and raised here. But his roots actually go back several generations in [...]

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Teens Against Tobacco Use

By KELI BYERS EAST VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL About 45 million people in the United States use tobacco. Of them, about 443,600 die each year from tobacco-related illnesses. And every year, about 757,000 teens become part of the crowd that has a 50 percent chance of dying from smoking. A group of eighth-graders at East Valley [...]

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Soccer mom — and daughter

By LAURA AGUILERA-FLEMMING EISENHOWER HIGH SCHOOL During soccer season, Sophia Pedemonte can usually be found on the field, while her mom sits on sidelines, rooting for her and remembering the time she played on the same team. Elisabeth Pedemonte, 43, was part of Eisenhower High School’s first girls’ soccer team in 1982. She played defense. [...]

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Music is a Part of Him

By HANNAH BESSO DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL With a calm gaze and confident step, he took the stage. The young man’s fingers flew over the piano keys despite the lack of sheet music. And at this moment, he wasn’t a teenager or student. He was a musician. It was a November night at The Seasons, a [...]

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