Click image to enlarge.

Codi Hamblin

Only three students from each of the state’s 49 legislative districts selected

Sedro-Woolley High School senior Kathryn McGoffin has always had a full plate.

Regardless of how busy she is as ASB president, student athlete or community volunteer, she is sure to give each activity her best effort.

Kathryn said she is beginning to see her hard work pay off as she was selected as a Washington Scholar last month.

Washington Scholar is a program that recognizes three high school seniors from each of the state’s 49 legislative districts. High school principals select the top 1 percent of their school’s graduating class based on the students’ leadership, community service and academic achievement.

Scholars receive state grants equivalent to up to 12 quarters or eight semesters and can be used at any public or independent college or university in the state.

Kathryn said she wasn’t expecting to receive the scholarship as she has been so concerned and focused on getting into college.

“Now that I’m realizing what an honor (the scholarship) is, it feels like an accomplishment,” she said.

Kathryn said Gonzaga University is her choice for a Washington state school. She has also applied at other universities across the nation.

She said she is interested in pursuing a business degree and would like to study Spanish.

Attending Gonzaga University is a possibility, Kathryn said, but at this point is not positive which direction to pursue.

“This next step is exciting,” she said. “But it’s the first time I have to make a huge decision on my own.”

The scholarship is a nice affirmation of her efforts, said Kevin McGoffin, Kathryn’s father.

She works well with people and is a natural born leader, he said.

Kathryn has held a variety of leadership positions at the high school.

She is currently ASB president and helped form Skagit County Inter High.

The program involves two student representatives and an administrator from high schools across the county. The schools meet once a month at each building to tour the facility and exchange ideas.

It’s a way to break stereotypes of each high school, Kathryn said. For her senior project, she organized a county-wide high school dance where about 750 students attended. Aside from a few small mishaps, the event went well, she said.

Kathryn deserves that scholarship and maybe even more, said Jeff Ingrum, an assistant principal and ASB advisor at Sedro-Woolley High School. If there’s a job that needs to be done then she’s the person who will do it, he said.

“Her getting this scholarship does not surprise me at all,” Ingrum said. “She’s the kind of person who goes above and beyond anything.”

Kathryn’s leadership role has also carried into her athletics. She has served as a co-caption for the girls’ soccer team, tennis team and cheerleading squad.

Aside from excelling in leadership, she has also excelled academically as she carries a 4.0 grade-point average and is enrolled in advanced placement calculus and English courses.

“I love school,” Kathryn said. “I used to think I was a nerd for loving school.”
She said school is something that’s been important in her immediate and extended family, and that her parents taught her to work hard academically.

It also helps to have good teachers, she said.

Kevin McGoffin said he and Kathryn’s mother, Mary, have been involved with driving Kathryn to activities, helping with homework and stressing the importance of education and pursuing college.

“Hands-on parenting is the most important thing we’ve done for her,” he said.

It’s quite an honor for Kathryn to be chosen as a Washington Scholar as there are a lot of qualified nominees in the large 39th legislative district, Kevin McGoffin said.

Kathryn’s accomplishment not only speaks highly of her and her family, but of her school and fellow students, he said. The saying, “it takes a community to raise a child” is true, and is happening in Sedro-Woolley, he said.

“It’s been a community effort,” Kevin McGoffin said. “Kathryn’s benefited from that.”