Woodworth, Peterson lead GHS Class of ‘08

Lauren Woodworth has been named valedictorian of the Geneseo High School Class of 2008 and Laura Peterson has been named salutatorian. Both women will speak at Geneseo’s graduation ceremony.

Woodworth is the daughter of Mark and Teresa Woodworth of Geneseo and Peterson is the daughter of Kevin and Mary Beth Peterson of Geneseo.

Geneseo’s Class of 2008 “is a high-achieveing group” said school principal Mike Haugse.

“They’re a very bright, tight-knit group. They’re very supportive of each other, and you always see large groups of them at every event — basketball, tennis, soccer,” he added.

Geneseo’s graduation ceremony will be at 2 p.m. May 25 on the high-school football field. In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved to the school gym. Gates open at 1 p.m.

Haugse said the Class of 2008 was a class that “led by example.”

“There weren’t a lot of real outspoken ‘follow me’ types, they were more of the ‘This is what we do, and this is how we do it’ types,” he said. “It was a class that treated each other with respect, and they treated the underclassmen with respect.

“As far as academics were concerned, this class had high ACT scores and a lot of them challenged themselves by taking AP courses and rigorous class schedules. There were also a large number of the students in National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society,” he added.

Outside of the classroom, the Class of 2008 continues to lead the way. “They defended the NCIC All-Sports trophy again this year, and we earned the most regional championships we’ve ever had in a single year,”?he said.

“The music department placed second in the state again, and many said this year’s play and musical were some of the best we’ve had,” Haugse said.

As members of the Class of 2008 collect their diplomas and end their high school careers, Haugse said “we hope they take away  positive images from their high school experience.”

“We hope we’ve impressed on them the importance of working hard and making the right choices both inside and outside of school,” he said. “As a school, we hope we’ve put them in a position to succeed and meet the challenges that they’ll face, whether it’s in college, the military, at a job or at a technical school.”