Westfield Area Class of 2022 to graduate on Sunday, May 22nd

Members of the Class of 2022 from Westfield Area High School will take part in their graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 22nd, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

This class is led by Valedictorian Trista Drew and Salutatorian Kiera Thiede. The other Honor Graduates this year include Emily Bittelman, Braylee Wolff, Chloe Wolzen, and Zachary Zehner.

The class has chosen for their motto: “Small steps in the right direction can turn out to be the biggest step of your life.”

Jesse Ramsey is the senior class president/secretary, and Kimberly Sengbusch is the class vice president/treasurer.

Academic Awards night was held on May 4th, awarding over $58,000 in 87 individual scholarships to 15 students, including: Caroline Aguilar, Cole Barton, Emily Bittelman, McKenzie Blacketer, Alex Cujak, Trista Drew, Hayden Hockerman, Samantha Meyer, Jesse Ramsey, Kimberly Sengbusch, Hunter Thomas, Elizabeth Wahl, Braylee Wolff, and Chloe Wolzen.

Valedictorian Trista Drew is the daughter of Douglas and Bonnie Drew. She has been busy at WAHS throughout high school!

She has attained the Principal’s Honor Roll all four years, and has won awards in several school departments, as well as being named Student of the Month in many subject areas. Trista is a member of Student Council, National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, and National Art Honor Society. She has also earned numerous awards in Forensics, the Visual Arts Classic, Art Club, the National Spanish Exam, and Math Team.

That’s not all! Trista is also very active in sports, including volleyball, basketball, and softball. She has earned a long list of awards in those, including varsity letters, Team Captain designations, and some All-Conference nominations. Her basketball career is with a team that has qualified for State competition twice in Trista’s four years, earning South Central Conference, Regional and Sectional Champion awards along the way.

Trista has awards from participation in Band and Solo & Ensemble events, is a member of Science Club, Spanish Club, and Life Smarts. She was Prom Queen, has done tutoring, Eat with an Athlete, and the Summer Reading Program. She was on Homecoming and Prom Courts, and was selected as Prom Queen.

Saluatorian Kiera Thiede has also had a very busy high school career at WAHS. Her mother is Ashley Burns, step-father is Ryan Burns, and father is Mike Ford. Throughout her entire high school career, she has managed to maintain her “spot-on” honor roll, completing freshman year with all High Honor Rolls, and the rest of her high school career with Principal’s Honor Roll, keeping a 4.0 GPA! This earned her a spot as Vice-President of the National Honor Society at school. She also became the Secretary of the Student Council, in which she participated for a majority of high school. Kiera also participated in Forensics her first three years, earning a perfect score at State each year. Kiera participated in DECA and Spanish Club all throughout high school, adding to her love for both business and learning more languages.

After graduation, Kiera plans on attending UW-Stout for four years to earn a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. After that, she plans on going to graduate school abroad, working toward a PdD. In the end, she is looking for a career within the Forensic Science field, with a focus on Forensic Pathology.

Congratulations to the WAHS Senior Class of 2022!

Pictured above: The South Central Conference annually recognizes the Top 10 Seniors each spring. For the Class of 2022 those are (Front L-R): Zach Zehner, Hunter Goodwin, Trista Drew, Kiera Thiede, Chloe Wolzen; (Back row) Sam Meyer, Braylee Wolff, Emily Bittleman, Hunter Thomas, and Ayden Goslawski. (Photo courtesy of WAHS's Pioneer Press)

Watch for our special 8-page 2022 Graduation Guide for Montello and Westfield Area seniors, which will be inserted with the May 26th edition of the Marquette County Tribune!