Odessa senior named U.S. Presidential Scholar
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 2 months AGO
Madelynn Wagner, of Odessa, was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar for 2020.
Courtesy photo
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 8, 2020 11:57 PM
ODESSA — There are 3.6 million high school seniors expected to graduate this year in the United States, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Education. Of those, more than 5,300 met the qualifications to be U.S. Presidential Scholars, based on college board exams and nominations by chief state school officers and academic organizations. Out of that number, a mere 161 students were actually selected for the honor. Four of those students are from Washington state, and one of them is Madelynn Jae Wagner of Odessa.
“The whole thing was just a shock, to say the least,” said Wagner, who goes by Maddy.
It was Wagner’s business teacher, Terri King, who got the ball rolling, Wagner said.
“She’s also the Future Business Leaders of America adviser,” Wagner said, “and I’m actually the president, so we’re pretty close. I’ve attended the national leadership conferences, and I’ve placed pretty high in the nation.”
“I think she (recommended) a few other people in the school too, but I was the only one that made it to the first round.”
The process wasn’t simple, Wagner said. She received an email notifying her that she had qualified, and she spent days submitting the information it asked for. Then she had to submit the names of recommenders.
“I think there was like three or four people that had to submit information about me, and recommendations,” she said. “It was a pretty long process.”
In ordinary times, Wagner said, the recipients would have received an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to receive their awards. But in the age of COVID-19, the scholars will have to settle for getting their medals in the mail.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was created in 1964. It has been expanded twice: first in 1979 to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, literary and performing arts, and again in 2015, to recognize ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.
Wagner doesn’t plan to rest on her laurels. She is headed to Washington State University in the fall, with the intent of spending a year or two there and then applying for nursing school. She’s got a head start on that.
I actually am a CNA at the hospital,” she said. “And then my younger brother has cerebral palsy, so that’s been kind of like the inspiration for everything.”
Nursing school typically takes two years, Wagner said, and after that she wants to gain some intensive care unit experience and travel in her nursing career.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.