ARLINGTON — Arlington High School’s seniors have to wait three extra days to graduate this year due to snow and foul weather last winter. Originally set for June 9, the high school’s graduation is Friday, June 12.

Weston High’s graduation has not changed, it is June 10, and the Stillaguamish Valley School’s graduation also remains as set on the school calender, June 18.

Along with graduation come awards and scholarships of many kinds.

One of the most prestigious awards in Arlington is the Stan Boyer Award which is tied with the Duskin Family Scholarship, said Gina Burrill, the school’s career counselor.

“This year six members of the Boyer family attended the Senior Awards Night,” Burrill said. The family came from Vancouver, Wash., and the Boyer award was announced early in the evening to accommodate one-year-old Stanley Boyer III.

The Boyer Award was presented to Megan Edmonds and Joel Larson.

“At the senior awards night, Dollars for Scholars presented 82 scholarships with 25 of those from the Stillaguamish Tribe,” Burrill said.

Superintendent Dr. Kristine McDuffy also presented the Leadership with a Heart award to Amanda Wregglesworth.

Megan Edmonds

Megan Edmonds placed sixth in the nation for her DECA Chapter Awards Project; she was named Marketing/DECA student of the year in 2008. In April 2009, Edmonds received honors for her outstanding presentation at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, Calif. She was honored by marketing teacher Tyler Payne for her marketing and class leadership skills.

During her high school years, Edmonds served as a Link Crew Team Leader, the AHS representative to Leadership Conference; she was a member of the National Honor Society and has competed at the state level for speech and debate. She volunteers for the Special Olympics, the Arlington Food Bank, the Children’s Museum, Sibshop, and she raised money for World Concern that was used for building wells that helped 10 impoverished communities in Kenya.

With a 3.88 GPA, Edmonds will study business or pre-law at Gonzaga University and hopes to become a Doctor of Jurisprudence. She sees herself as an attorney fighting for those whose rights are infringed upon.

In her essay for the Boyer Award competition, Edmonds wrote about being impressed by how Mr. Boyer served as a role model to young people and his loyalty to the community of Arlington and to Arlington High School.

“I have tried to be a role model to my fellow students at Arlington High School by striving to do my best, treating students and teachers with dignity and respect, and by exhibiting a good work ethic,” Edmonds wrote in her essay.

“Like Mr. Boyer, I have the desire to lead an unselfish life,” Edmonds wrote.

Joel Larson

The boy recipient of the award, Joel Larson maintained a 3.86 GPA at AHS and will attend Washington State University to study wildlife biology and veterinary medicine. Larson has taken six advanced placement classes to prepare for college.

He has been involved in symphonic band for two years and wind ensemble for two years. In 2007 he was named Outstanding Band Member.

Larson has been a member of the National Honor Society, the high school Link Crew, Debate Team, and played basketball, baseball and football for AHS. In 2006 he was named Most Inspirational Player for the baseball team.

Larson is an Eagle Scout, and has served as a patrol leader, senior patrol leader, scribe and troop guide. His Eagle Scout project involved the organization of 18 Scouts to build and install benches and signs for the Eagle Trail at Haller Park.

In Larson’s essay for the competition Larson said, “like Mr. Boyer, I feel I have used my abilities as a leader and mentor to influence Scouts, athletes, peers and students.

“My goal was to teach them that life is not just about you. It is about giving back to your community and that working together within the community benefits everyone in some way,” Larson said.

About Stanley D. Boyer

The Stanley Boyer Award was born of the influence of one man on a couple of Arlingtonians. When Boyer taught agriculture at Arlington High School from 1920 – 1934, he served as dean of the high school faculty and advisor to the junior class. He influenced two students, Gordon Duskin and Helen Preston, who both received the equivalent to the Boyer Award — Duskin in 1933 and Preston in 1935.

Later they married and lived a long life together in Arlington. Their sons, Gary, Dennis, Dale and Dave all received the prestigious award upon graduating from AHS, in 1955, 1957 and 1967, respectively.

After Gordon Duskin died in 1998, Helen told the family of a dream that she and Gordon had: To increase the value of the Boyer Award.

“My parents set aside an endowment to fund the award every year,” said Dale Duskin. The interest earnings of the endowment fund the award, and it is higher than ever this year, he said.

Since then, the Duskin Family Endowed Scholarship Fund is tied with the Stanley D. Boyer Award.

Stanley D. Boyer was born in Porter, Wash. and attended Washington State College in Pullman. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1917 and started teaching at Arlington High School in Feb. 1920. He retired in 1934 due to an illness and died the following year.

The Arlington Times, dated March 7, 1935, said of Boyer, “…the campus is replete with monuments to his industry and loyalty to the school, among those being the tennis court, farm shop, bus shed and outdoor lamp. Boyer rendered great service to agriculture in this region by his instruction. . .”

Upon his death, the AHS faculty honored his life by renaming the Boys’ Club Award the Stanley D. Boyer Award, to be presented to the senior boy who held the same traits of character as Stan Boyer. In 1965, AHS launched a girl’s version of the award.

Among the attributes honored are outstanding service to school and community, scholarship, physical strength, mentally awake and morally straight.