GCHS Co-Valedictorians Janson, Johnson, Kremer, Peskar and Wallin, Salutatorian Peterson top the class of 2019
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By Amber Hayden
GLENWOOD CITY — Glenwood City High School has named five valedictorians and one salutatorian for the Class of 2019.
Olivia Janson, Jatelyn Johnson, Abby Kremer, Tressa Peskar and Maggie Wallin have all been tabbed as valedictorians for Glenwood City’s graduating class of 2019 while Rebecca Peterson earned the title of class salutatorian.
The six will lead Glenwood City’s graduation ceremony on Saturday morning, May 25. Commencement is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.
Olivia Janson
Olivia Janson is the daughter of Amber Janson and Paul Janson.
Her most memorable moment happened just last month when she walked into school and saw her name on the Valedictorian Board in the high school lobby.
“It proved to me that all of my hard work had paid off and given me a sense of accomplishment,” Janson said.
Janson has been involved in National Honor Society and Art Club for three years and has been on the Student Council for four years.
Olivia has also participated in ballet since she was in second grade and explained taking pointe classes was always her favorite because she was able to express herself in a graceful and challenging manner.
She plans to continue working through the summer at Kwik Trip as well as spending time with her family and friends.
Janson will be attending UW-Madison in the fall with plans to major in engineering.
Jatelyn Johnson
Jatelyn Johnson is the daughter of Tim and Tammy Johnson.
Her favorite moment of high school for her was when she and her sister Allaina both won student of the month in May of 2018.
Johnson was named co-captain of the volleyball team for the 2018 season and it was one of her favorite activities, she participated in volleyball in grades 9 – 12.
Johnson’s high school activities and clubs also included basketball (grades 9-10), band/choir (grades 9-10), Art Club (grades 10 – 12), Nationals Honor Society (10 – 12), FCCLA (grade 11) and Dunn-St. Croix Sportsmanship Summit (grade 11).
She will be working through the summer with a childcare program in Baldwin called Jr. Hawks, as well as spending time with family and friends.
Jatelyn intends to attend school in the fall at UW-La Crosse to major in elementary education.
“I hope to eventually become a kindergarten teacher,” she said.
Abby Kremer
Abby Kremer is the daughter of Dave and Tricia Kremer.
Abby’s favorite classes during high school were Criminal Minds, Physics and English.
“Although the content taught in Physics was not my favorite, I always looked forward to going to the class since Dr. Ketola was the teacher,” said Kremer. “He made class enjoyable and I ended up learning a lot more than I intended.”
Kremer had set a goal to become a valedictorian which pushed her to study for tests, complete homework assignments on time and produce her highest quality work possible, she explained. Since it was a goal that took her four years to accomplish it is by far her most memorable moment.
During her high school career, Abby’s activities included varsity volleyball (2015-2018), Art Club (201-2019), National Honor Society (2017-2019), All School Musical (2018), Spanish TAP student (2018), FCCLA (2018).
Her favorite activity involved being the Spanish 1 TAP student for Señora Kjellberg.
“I was able to enhance the students’ understanding of the language, and I was also able to get to know younger students that I hadn’t talked to throughout high school,” Kremer explained.
Abby will continue to work as a shift supervisor for Caribou Coffee and also at her parents’ restaurant in Eastbay. But she is also planing to take a trip overseas to Germany and Switzerland to stay with former foreign exchange student Julia.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland and see the Swiss Alps and Germany is right by Switzerland,” explained Kremer.
Kremer is committed to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota where she will major in English and minor in either Political Science or Communications to prepare for law school.
“Once I receive my bachelor’s degree, I will take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) to get into a law school on the east coast,” she said.
Tressa Peskar
Tressa Peskar is the daughter of Randy and Judy Peskar.
Peskar’s favorite classes at Glenwood City High School were Human Anatomy, Physics and Personal Finance. Human Anatomy will apply most to what Tressa intends to study in college, and Personal Finance will be the most helpful as she moves on in her life, she said.
Her most memorable moment was coronation for junior prom when she was crowned prom queen.
“Though it was a short and relatively unimportant moment, I remember it vividly,” she said. “I had a lot of fun with my role on prom court, and being crowned was a very exciting and unexpected moment for me.”
During her years at Glenwood City, her activities included volleyball (grades 9-12), track and field (grades 9-11), Art Club (grades 9-11), National Honor Society (grades 10-12), Band/Choir (grades 9-12), Prom Committee (grade 11) and Class Officer (grade 12).
Volleyball was by far her favorite activity as it gave her the opportunity to become closer with under and upperclassmen. It also gave her something to work and improve on everyday throughout the seasons. Tressa also hopes to play on a club or intramural team at UW-Madison.
Peskar has two trips planned with friends this summer which include Colorado and Chicago, but she also intends to continue working at the Kwik Trip in Baldwin as well as building her “It Works” global network marketing business.
She will be attending UW-Madison in the fall where she hopes to major in either Genetics or Neurobiology.
Maggie Wallin
Maggie Wallin is the daughter of Sue and Darwin Nueske and Matthew Wallin.
During her time at Glenwood City, she has enjoyed her Physical Education and weight lifting classes because of being able to get in shape while being in school. With her busy schedule, it has helped her to have time to exercise and have fun at the same time.
Her favorite activity was the school musical, “High School Musical”, when she had the opportunity to play the role of Sharpey Evans.
“This role was extremely fun to play, because she has a self-centered arrogant and harsh personality,” said Wallin. “It was interesting to go from a shy personality to a completely opposite personality. Plus, the costumes were overdramatic and very fashionable.”
Wallin has kept herself busy throughout her high school career with activities that include National Honors Society (3 years), softball (4 years), volleyball (4 years), club softball (4 years), club volleyball (1 year), basketball (3 years), Choir (4 years), Band (4 years), Art Club (3 years) FCCLA (1 year) and Student Council (1 year).
Maggie’s most memorable moment came this softball season when she pitched a no-hitter against Pepin/Alma and the Hilltoppers went on to win the game in five innings, She also said when she was named valedictorian it was memorable because her mom had been a valedictorian as well when she graduated from Hudson High School in 1985 making Maggie a second generation valedictorian.
She plans to work two jobs during the summer while still taking a family trip to South Dakota and playing club softball also.
Wallin will be attending Augsburg University in Minneapolis where her major will be Theatre with a minor in Music Performance. She will also be playing softball for Augsburg.
Rebecca Peterson
Rebecca Peterson is the daughter of Ken and Karen Peterson.
Peterson is the salutatorian for the Glenwood City High School class of 2019.
Her favorite classes since she has been attending high school are Human Anatomy, AP English Literature, and Physics.
“These three classes are my favorite because the content has been quite interesting and has challenged me,” she said. “Along with the memories I have made within them.”
Peterson explained her favorite moment has been TAPing for Mrs. Langreck’s kindergarten class during her last semester, it has been interesting to see how the kids interact with one another and flourish within the class stated Peterson.
Rebecca has been involved in three clubs – Art Club (1 year), FCCLA (4 years) and National Honor Society (4 years). She has also been part of band and choir for four years and participated in Honors Band and was able to make it to State Solo and Ensemble for both band and choir.
“Of all the activities I have been a part of in high school, NHS has been my favorite because it has given me the opportunity to give back to my community through volunteering,” she said.
Peterson will be working for the school district’s daycare program, “Hilltopper Hangtime” as well as volunteering at the Glenwood City Public Library.
Peterson will be attending UW-Green Bay where she plans to major in Human Biology.
