Philomath’s tight-knit Class of 2024 celebrates at graduation

Leaving their seats and gathering behind the stage toward the end of Saturday’s graduation ceremony, Philomath High School’s Class of 2024 turned their tassels from right to left, a longstanding tradition that symbolizes the completion of an academic milestone.

Gallery: PHS Graduation 2024 (June 8, 2024)

A collection of 191 photos from Philomath High School’s graduation ceremony at Clemens Field on Saturday.

by Brad Fuqua, Philomath News June 8, 2024June 7, 2025

Then they hooped and hollered while throwing their mortar boards into the air in front of a large crowd at Clemens Field.

It was a classic moment often seen at the end of a high school graduation. For Philomath, it was the final act together of what has been described as a very close and caring group of students.

“I think this class is extremely kind,” counselor and class sponsor Kim StClair said following the ceremony. “They have a lot of compassion for one another and they want to be supportive. They look for ways to help others.”

A couple of hours earlier while the graduation candidates were gathered in the school library waiting for the ceremony to start, PHS Principal Mark Henderson had very similar observations about this particular group of students.

“Our kids, from being in a lot of classrooms, I know they are articulate, they’re thoughtful and they really care about one another, their community and their peers, as well as the world at large,” Henderson said. “Kids are different all across the country but they all want to be successful and I think here in Philomath, our kids have had a really strong upbringing and they know right from wrong and they’re going to go out in the world and make a difference. I’m really proud of this group.”

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Class of 2024: Get to know Philomath High’s valedictorians

The Philomath High School’s Class of 2024 will turn their tassels on Saturday at Clemens Field in a graduation ceremony scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Seniors finish classes Thursday and are scheduled to go on their traditional walk to the various campuses Friday morning. School staff also had plans early Friday to serve the…

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The Class of 2024 featured 105 graduates with five students earning valedictorian honors. Each of those students has a story about their high school experience, especially with the 2020-21 COVID year occurring when they were freshmen.

“It’s almost like I didn’t feel like a freshman or high schooler,” said Sadie Francis, who completed a full run through the Philomath school system from kindergarten on. “I definitely feel like a high schooler now but this doesn’t feel right that I’m graduating. I don’t know if that’s the effect of COVID.”

Kallen Albin said he struggled with self-motivation during that time.

“It was kind of weird because I can’t force myself to do schoolwork,” he said. “I kind of need teachers to force me so being homeschooled was really tough.”

Jenica Baker attended Kings Valley Charter School in her younger years before transferring to Philomath during middle school.

“It was definitely a challenge,” Baker said when asked about the online learning during COVID. “I’m not super techie, so it was hard to figure all that stuff out and try to stay motivated.”

StClair believes the experience was something like no other.

“It took us all time to remember who we were and who we were going to be … it happened to all of us and we all had to learn together in order to go forward,” she said. “It was a little rough at times but we did it, we worked together and came out on the other side OK.” 

Henderson didn’t arrive at Philomath High until 2022 but he knows they recovered well from the challenge.

“We always talk about kids being more resilient and can handle change and they’ve handled it in stride and did what they needed to do,” Henderson said. “I know that they really appreciated at least these last two years.”

Overall, most students can share specific programs or classes that played an important role in their educational experience, or perhaps it was an especially impactful teacher or mentor that made the difference.

Baker mentioned Nicole Stueve, business, math and technology teacher, as a source of motivation.

“She’s a very close friend of mine and really pushed me to do hard classes and try to do my best,” said Baker, who will attend Linn-Benton Community College for its diagnostic imaging program with hopes of becoming an X-ray technician.

Albin said he connected with math teacher Jodi Moade.

“She was able to see how well I could do with math,” Albin said, “and actually forced me to do it right.”

Albin plans to leave the state to begin a program that will take him to Gillette, Wyoming.

“The program that impacted me the most was our man-tech (manufacturing-technology) program for welding because that’s what I’m going to pursue for a career,” he said.

Francis said teachers Donna Carter (health occupations) and Keri Bennett (family and consumer science) were major influences.

“Those two really helped me find myself and just helped me through class,” she said. “I think all of the staff here is really good.”

Francis intends to further her education at Linn-Benton Community College with a likely transfer at some point to Linfield University. She plans to get into the nursing profession.

The graduation program opened with students Cody Islas Santos on flute and Kaylee Webster on vocals for the National Anthem. Jadyn McMullen and Hailey Schermerhorn both gave speeches as class speakers. 

Ava Theurer spoke as the valedictorian representative — one of five who achieved the distinction in this year’s class. The others were Bailey Bell, Riven Benson, Simon King and Andrew Leonard.

Henderson presented the “Heart of a Warrior Awards” to Mason Stearns, Bell, Kayli Blake, King, Madison Juhl, Gradin Fairbanks, Alexa Eckhold and Caleb Garcia. Later in the ceremony, he delivered the graduation message.

Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday provided comments to present the Class of 2024 and then diplomas were handed out with the help of Philomath School Board members. Graduates Nadia Durski and Lorelei Schell led the turning of the tassels to end the event.