A former counselor at Homer High School has embarked on a project to gather tales and reflections from some of the top students to have flowed through the school’s doors.
As a former guidance counselor, Lin Hampson saw her fair share of high achievers while at Homer High, and counseled many of whom would turn out to be school valedictorians. She said she realized the school really doesn’t have a thorough process for archiving the names and details of each valedictorian (sometimes there are more than one each year). She’d like to change that.
Hampson worked to compile an accurate list of past Homer valedictorians going back the last 21 years, which will be displayed in the school. Beyond that, though, she’d like to learn more about those students as people. Where did they end up? What piece of Homer and the Mariner community did they take with them?
“Homer is super supportive of high school graduates,” Hampson said. “When I moved down here from Anchorage I was just blown away.”
Hampson said she’d like to catch up with past valedictorians in part to see how they ended up using all that community support, often in the form of many local scholarships given out by organizations and nonprofits. She thought the community might like to see where the recipients of its generosity are and what they’ve accomplished.
Hampson is inviting past valedictorians of Homer High School to contact her and share stories of their time at the school, details of where they went afterward and lessons that have stayed with them throughout the years. She said people in the Homer area who have contact with past valedictorians are encouraged to reach out to them or to let them know about this project.
She’d like to know things like what advice these past graduates have for current students, and what the valedictorians thought they would major in during college, versus what they ended up going to college for. What did those valedictorians wish they’d known before getting their start in post-high school life?
“I think local people would be really interested,” she said of catching up with valedictorians.
Former valedictorians of Homer High School are asked to contact Hampson at 907-227-8424 or lhampson48@gmail.com.
Reach Megan Pacer at mpacer@homernews.com.
