WARDEN — Kaden Skone said one of his goals throughout high school was to ensure he had a chance to be class valedictorian. After all, he had to keep up with his brother.

Kaden was valedictorian of the Warden High School Class of 2020, following his brother Tanner, who was WHS valedictorian for the class of 2017. “See who the better brother is,” Kaden said.

Setting that goal also gave him a chance to challenge himself, he said. He took courses through the WHS College in the High School program, including a math class from Big Bend Community College and an English class from Eastern Washington University. “I tried to veer toward the challenging side of things,” he said.

It’s important to him to keep finding those challenges. “I like to take the hard road, better myself for the future,” he said. He credited his parents, Jennifer and Doug Skone, with encouraging him to take the hard road. “My parents have taught me well,” he said.

The WHS Class of 2020 received their diplomas in a ceremony July 24, a delay caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Warden School Board members voted to delay graduation in the hope that a postponement would allow a traditional ceremony.

But the coronavirus is still active, so the ceremony was revised to start with a car parade. Kaden bought a bag of candy, which he handed out to classmates so they would have candy to throw to any kids along the parade route.

The parade ended at the WHS football field, where seniors drove up to the stage to receive their diplomas. It was just one more unusual twist in a senior year that started getting strange in February and March.

“It was crazy,” Kaden said. The seniors were looking forward to finishing the school year on a high note. “And then this all came about,” he said.

School was closed in mid-March, a closure that originally was supposed to last through the end of April. Later school was closed for the rest of the year.

Kaden said he and many of his classmates originally thought school would be closed for a couple of weeks. But Warden, like other schools statewide, shifted to online-only instruction. “We had to scramble to get online,” Kaden said. The closure came just as baseball, softball and track seasons were starting. “No more spring sports. That was a bummer,” he said. “It sucks for us, but what can you do?”

Warden students had the advantage of a school and community that supported them. “It (Warden High School) feels really tightly knit. The community as a whole is pretty tightly knit,” Kaden said.

“I know pretty much all my class,” he said. The teachers know most of the students, and remember them as they move through school. Most of the students get along with each other, he said.

He has been accepted at Washington State University, and will start classes in about a month. He’s majoring in kinesiology. His original plan was a career as a trainer, but becoming a chiropractor is also a possibility, he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached at education@columbiabasinherald.com.