The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce had 157 students apply for the 10 scholarships — which total about $17,000 — it offers to graduating high schoolers in Centralia, Chehalis and Adna.
That’s four times the number of students who applied for scholarships through the chamber in 2022.
“It definitely is not easier to choose an applicant if there are 35 or if there are 157 applicants. You all are all really, really impressive,” said Amanda Singleton, who presented one of the scholarships awarded during the chamber’s annual Rob Fuller Scholarship Luncheon on Tuesday.
The event was held at Jester's Auto Museum & Event Center to celebrate local scholarship recipients and the top 25 graduating seniors from Centralia High School and W.F. West High School.
While not the first post-pandemic class to graduate from high school in Lewis County, the graduating class of 2023 faced significant adversity from pandemic-related restrictions at the tail end of their secondary career and overcame those challenges to reach their graduation.
“You’re a tough class. You’re definitely a tough class,” Robert Pehl said during his keynote address on Tuesday.
A W.F. West High School graduate, former professional baseball player and current vice president of I-5 Cars Auto Group, Pehl related the world post-graduation to his experiences in baseball, saying that even though his team worked hard and did everything right, they were never guaranteed a victory, but the times they lost were just as valuable as the times they won.
“The beauty of life should be that journey, and it’s maybe hard to understand that when you’re younger — it was for me, at least — but the journey is where all the magic’s at: the people we meet, the people you help, not just accomplishing your own goals but helping other people accomplish theirs. And that’s one of the things I take into my work right now,” Pehl said.
The experiences he had in Chehalis and the family and friends he had in the community were solid support for him as he pursued his post-secondary education and his career, Pehl said.
“That’s what made me and separated me from others,” he said.
The luncheon was hosted by the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce and featured a variety of giveaways and raffle items donated for students.
Below are the scholarship recipients and the top 25 students from Centralia and W.F. West high schools.
Centralia Top 25
Donald Blair, Jacob Bleak, Madison Buchanan, Leslie Gil Cisneros, Gracee Cline, Mia Contreras, Thomas Dean, Hannah Demaris, Giovanni Flores-Cuenca, Lace Gress, Morgan Grove, Mariana Guerrero-Cirilo, Frankie Kimball, Jimena Luis, Brianna McPherson, Darrell Neuert, Thai Nguyen, Olivia Norris, Yareni Perez, Kassandra Ritchey, Khailee Ross, Sarah Robbins, Paola Mejia Salinas, Peyton Smith and Charlie Stanfield.
Chehalis Top 25
Reid Balmelli, Hunter Bradley, Ava Brenner, Saige Brindle, Clara Bunker, Noe Caperon, Tyson Castillo-Rodas, Soren Dalan, Isabel Dickson, Abigail Freeman, Luke Hanson, Savannah Hawkins, Gavin Jensen, Samuel Mittge, Alyssa Mueller, Emma Ricks, Gwenivere Robertson, Morgan Rogerson, Kelsey Schow, Cameron Sheets, Piper Springer Chalmers, Jonas Steiner, Bryn Taylor, Leigha Wilson and Olivia Yalovskiy.
Scholarship Recipients
• The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce Rob Fuller Scholarship: Reid Balmelli, Ezra Bolin, Aidan Cox, Soren Dalan, Thomas Dean, Rachel Gray, Alyssa Howlett, Samuel Mittge, Cameron Sheets and Evan Stajduhar.
These scholarships of up to $1,000 were awarded to seniors at W.F. West or Centralia high schools who are children or grandchildren of current Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce members. The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce scholarship fund was developed to encourage and promote educational opportunities for children of chamber members. In 2011, the chamber of commerce changed the name of the scholarship to honor longtime Lewis County resident, president of Fuller’s Inc., city councilor and philanthropist Rob Fuller, who passed away in 2011 from lung cancer.
• Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce Olivia Mitchell Scholarship: Katie Godbey
This $500 scholarship was created in honor of an Adna High School and Running Start student who was set to graduate with both her associate of arts degree and high school diploma when she passed away her senior year. The scholarship is available to Adna High School seniors.
• Althauser Rayan Abbarno, LLP Cheyllyn Collinsworth Scholarship: Morgan Rogerson
The scholarship, which awards a minimum of $500 to a W.F. West or Centralia student pursuing a teaching career, was created in memory of a former Centralia High School senior and aspiring teacher who died in a car accident shortly after her high school graduation.
• Boys & Girls Club of Lewis County Scholarship: Cameron Sheets
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating seniors from W.F. West and Centralia High School.
• Centralia Community Foundation Education Scholarship: Sarah Joy Robbins
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating seniors from Centralia High School based on their desire to go into the field of education.
• Rainier Connect STEM Scholarship: Soren Dalan
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating seniors from W.F. West and Centralia High School based on their educational experience with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
• Title Guaranty Company of Lewis County Citizenship Scholarship: Olivia Yalovskiy
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating Seniors from W.F. West and Centralia High School based on their demonstration of citizenship.
• TwinStar Credit Union Business Leader of Tomorrow Scholarship: Thomas Dean
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating Seniors from W.F. West and Centralia High School based on their desire to go into the field of business or finance.
• Valley View Health Center Nursing Scholarship: Payton Smith
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating seniors from W.F. West and Centralia High School based on their intent to seek a degree as a registered nurse.
• Visiting Nurses Foundation Scholarship: Kamilly Mitsunaga
The $1,000 scholarship is available to all 2023 graduating Seniors from W.F. West and Centralia High School based on their intent to seek a degree as a registered nurse.
