BCSD announce top 10 graduating students

BONNERS FERRY — 10 students were honored for being the top students in their graduating class, announced by the Boundary County School District.

The Top 10 students are Lily Blackmore, Madison McIntyre, Regina Claphan, Ella Huggins, Anna Bliss, Jillian Robbins, Daniel Walker, Marianne Pinkerton, Tyler Lucas, and Morgan Swanson.

According to the release, “Every year, we honor the students who have the 10 highest weighted GPAs in their graduating class.”

Many of the students have worked extremely hard during their school years, but many are more than academics; these students are involved in many activities such as sports, volunteer work or competing in scholarship programs.

According to the release, the Top 10 students have earned GPAs higher than 4.0, accomplishing this goal by taking challenging honors, Advanced Placement and dual-credit college courses.

The release stated, “We recognize that these students have made sacrifices to maintain balance and excellence throughout their academic work, family lives, and extracurriculars.”

Huggin’s teachers praise her for her creative abilities and the gifts that will help her in her journey.

Art teacher Josh Knaggs stated, Huggins is a “creative juggernaut, her style is unparalleled, and her approach to her work is well beyond her years; I have very much enjoyed watching her grow as an artist, her energy will be missed when she leaves our studio.”

Madison McIntyre, Blackmore and Bliss competed in the Distinguished Young Women scholarship program last year, which saw Blackmore becoming the winner of the DYW scholarship program.

According to the school counselor, Emily Winebark, Blackmore was 2020 Distinguished Young Woman of the Year, All league soccer-junior year and team captain senior year.

Knaggs stated that “Lily is genuinely one of the nicest young ladies I've had in class. Her character is awe-inspiring; I look forward to hearing where her journey takes her.”

Winebark stated that McIntyre was also the “2020 Distinguished Young woman runner-up, [with a] desire to learn and improve, joining soccer, participating in track, and honor choir.”

Walker made headlines for his work on the boys soccer team, scoring hat tricks and helping lead his team to wins. Walker was an All-league soccer team, league MVP and received the North Idaho Student Teacher Achievement Recognition Award.

Accordion to AP US History and Cross-country head coach Tyler Warner, Bliss is always enthusiastic about her coursework and helps o make a dry topic in history class exciting and relatable.

“Anna Bliss is a great human who always brings great enthusiasm to whatever she does. She's also a little nerdy, which helps when you're taking AP courses and college courses in high school.” Warner said, “That sort of drive will help her in life and whatever career she chooses.”

Warner believes the students in the Top 10 also make the environment fun for all,

Warner stated, “They're the sort of kids who make teaching a pleasure because they challenge us to reflect on how to challenge them.”

Winebark is proud of Bliss’s dedication over the years in her academic and athletic career at BFHS.

“Anna Bliss shows huge amounts of dedication in both academics and athletics, joined soccer senior year as starting goalie, also excels in Softball and basketball.”

Marianne Pinkerton stayed busy with her detailed work as the Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook and is the FFA chapter president.

Yearbook teacher Caroline Watson spoke highly of Pinkerton and said Pinkerton is an “Outstanding leader, self-motivated, amazing problem solver, respected by her peers, one of the best EIC's I've worked with!”

According to Winebark, Morgan Swanson is an “extremely hard worker” with accolades, including being an All-league soccer player, team MVP, captain, ran track, and is the yearbook copy editor.

Winebark spoke highly of Tyler Lucas, stating, “Though naturally quiet, Tyler is highly gifted and takes his academics very seriously. He is not afraid of challenges and is an all-around great student, always maintains a positive attitude and shows diligence and curiosity in his work.”

According to Knaggs, “Jilian Robbins thinks on a whole different level, her processing of ideas is a fantastic thing to watch unfold, and creative.”

Regina Claphan has done a lot of work to help get her band ready for games performances and help fellow students improve their skills and is highly active in robotics and Ban.

Jessica Hanna, the Band teacher, stated, “she is our band president, takes time after school to mentor our younger students, she a motivated, and hardworking.”