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looking
forward to
moving to
Lubbock, “I’m
excited to see
all of the stars
and storms
at night. I’ll
miss trees,
but it’s going
to snow there
so that should be a lot of fun,” she
continued. She likes to write, but is
also considering focusing on math
or science as a major. She came to
Weatherford Christian in 7th grade
and said, “I like it so much better
here. I like the people I’ve met here.”
She is proud of the success of the
girls’ basketball team who won the
state championship this year. Last
year they lost in double overtime to
St. Paul Lutheran School who they
came back to beat this year. Hannah
plays post on the team. She will miss
places and people when she moves
in the fall, “I live right in the middle
of Weatherford, so I’m next to all of
these parks that I’ve kind of grown
up going to, so I’m going to miss
that. I’ll miss my family of course
and knowing everyone,” Hannah
said. Going to such a large school, “It
will be a big change,” she said from
the 18 graduating with her at WCS
transitioning to a school with almost
36,000 students.
Weatherford High
School
JUNE 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Valedictorian
Sariah Harmer
Parents Jon Paul and Kimberly Harmer
GPA 4.85
Sariah whittled down her
college choices before
deciding on
the College
of William
and Mary in
Williamsburg,
Virginia.
30
“I knew I wanted to go to a small
liberal arts school. We visited nine
schools in seven days right before
school started,” she said. After
gaining admittance to three of her
choices, she did what you would
expect a valedictorian to do; she
looked over her strengths and weaknesses and found the best fit for her.
She loved the proximity the college
has to Colonial Williamsburg which
is walking distance from campus. “I
like the sense of history and place.
And the people are all very nice,” she
concluded.
She is not certain of her major, but
she’s considering Chinese language
and culture which she would apply
in the business world or increases her
career choices by adding a minor in
political science. She hasn’t visited
China, but said she would like to,
“I would want to do a study abroad
for at least a semester,” she said.
She liked many of her teachers and
classes at Weatherford, but this year
she had a really good experience in
art taking AP classes in sculpture as
well as drawing and painting. Moving
to the East Coast will be different for
this Parker County native, but she
will miss some unexpected things.
According to her, “I know I’ll miss
the landscape. It’s home to me. I
don’t really remember anything else.
I’ll miss the springtime storms and the
bluebonnets.”
Salutatorian
Jessica Wortman
is one of her best memories of high
school. “Being in band is like a
huge family. You’re never left out
of anything and always have someone to support you,” she said. She
chose UT because of her father’s
attendance there and said, “Ever
since I was a little girl I wanted to
go to UT.” Jessica has big plans after
she earns her undergraduate degree
in biochemistry/premed. She plans
on attending Dell Medical School,
which is UT’s med school and is
considering pediatric neurology as
her specialty. “There aren’t a lot of
people in the field, so I know there
are jobs. I want to work with kids
with disabilities or kids with cancer,”
she said. She has gained experience
and found her calling working with
children through her volunteering the
past six years at her church’s VBS and
music camp. About moving to Austin
she said, “I’m excited about the
new experiences in the new world.
It’s a taste of freedom, but you’re
still protected.” She’s also excited
about Saturdays on the Darrell K.
Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium field,
“I’m excited about football games,
it’s going to be a great experience.”
Moving to Austin has lots of appeal
as well. “Downtown Austin is cool.
There are lots of neat shops and
restaurants around campus,” she
continued.
Victory Baptist
Academy
Parents Tracie & Michael Wortman
GPA 4.8
Victory Baptist has only two graduating seniors this year.
Jessica is
looking
forward to
moving to
Austin in late
August and
becoming a
member of
the University
of Texas
Longhorn
Band. She has been a member of
Weatherford High School’s concert
and marching bands as well as the
wind symphony, so being in band
and playing her flute and piccolo
Robert Catuto
Parents Patti & Robert Catut o
Continuing
his family’s
tradition,
Robert will
be attending
Pensacola
Christian
College
where both
of his parents
attended.
He visited
the school recently and really liked