He likes living in Glide because it is a small community and you can virtually know everyone in town. He has four brothers, Breahon, Keeller, Aubrey, and Gabe.

His favorite subject at GHS was U.S. history, and his favorite sport is wrestling. Outside of school his hobby is shooting and in his spare time you can find him at the bowling alley.

His community service with Dress a Child was the most rewarding for him. He also helped with the Red Cross blood drive and reading to elementary school children.

He is going to attend OSU, with an emphasis on Civil or Mechanical Engineering. Since mathematics is easy for him, this feels like a good fit for a life's work. He is most interested in building large structures and its supporting infrastructure.

He feels the major problem from his perspective in the world today is that "people seem to be growing selfish and not caring about other people." No matter what he ends up doing he intends to "continue to try and set a good example of helping other people."

The persons that have had the biggest influence on his life are two of his brothers. Keller for pushing him to be smarter and Gabe for pushing him to always be one step ahead of him.

Please join his parents Thane and Rebekah  in welcoming and congratulating Rhett Syverson.

He likes living in Glide because it is a small community and the atmosphere is friendly. The close proximity to the North Umpqua Trail is a big plus.

His favorite subject at GHS was welding, and he completed several large projects for local community members. His GPA was 4.0.

In his limited spare time you can find him running, cycling or hiking the North Umpqua Trail.

His favorite community service was with Pine Grove Community Church, running the sound system and being a student leader for youth groups. He also helped out with the Boy Scouts Food Drive and the American Red Cross Blood Drives.

He is going to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and major in Biomedical Engineering. This field interests him because he has been challenged by leukemia (a battle he is winning) and during that time spent several weeks in the hospital and studied the many tools and devices they use in their operation. He also likes to figure out how to build things and make them operate efficiently.

He feels the major problem from his perspective in the world today is that "people seem uninformed about where things like food and materials come from." He would like to help people understand how things work and what makes materials available for use.

The person that has had the biggest influence on his life is his pastor Dennis Kreiss.

Please join his parents Chris and Christina in welcoming and congratulating William Byrd.

He says the best thing about living in Glide is the outdoors, the rivers and the great school district. He enjoys hanging out with his friends and snowboarding.

His favorite class in school was Science with Mr. Doty but his most fun class was Spanish. He will graduate with a 3.52 grade point average. The person that provided the biggest influence on his life was Cyller Cunningham.

His community service was volunteering at Mercy Medical Center in the E.R., and the elementary school along with the FFA.

He plans on attending UCC with the intent of further education at OSU in either Fire Science or Pre-Med.

He feels the major problem from his perspective in the world today is there are too many mass shootings, and if he continues on in the medical field he will be able to help the victims heal.

Austin Thingvall is not present today due to scheduling conflicts. Please welcome his father, Andy, who will accept the award on his behalf.