More than half of Cascade seniors headed to college, trades

LEAVENWORTH — Cascade High School’s Class of 2026 will graduate June 5 with more than half of its seniors headed toward college, trades, or workforce careers, CHS Principal James Swanson told the Cascade School District Board on May 11.

According to CHS Principal James Swanson, Cascade High School has 108 seniors, 22 of whom are enrolled in Running Start full-time, with another five students at Discovery. So far, the high school has three students in the running for valedictorian, and one student for salutatorian.

As part of the graduation requirement, the seniors will graduate with work towards a career pathway related to Career and Technical Education (CTE), military interest, or post-secondary education. This includes passing exams—such as the ACT, SAT or Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)—earning dual credits, or obtaining an industry recognized certification.

“I am still just amazed at the size of our school and what we can offer our kids. It's pretty astounding, and that's due to the caliber of staff that we have, because not everyone can just go out and teach the College in the High School courses,” Swanson said to the board.

According to Swanson, 45 percent of CHS seniors are going on to four-year universities, with 18 percent going to two-year colleges and 6 percent going into trades. Selected schools include Wenatchee Valley College, Eastern Washington University, Central Washington University, University of Washington, University of Utah, Colorado Mesa, Montana State University, Dartmouth, Paul Mitchell Beauty, Wyotech, University of Montana, Eastern Oregon University, and DigiPen. Some students will immediately join the workforce, said Swanson, working service jobs as well as wildland firefighting.

“One of the greatest things, I guess, in high school, is the teachers and the ability to actually connect and be able to learn with them in a more personal way. That, just overall, makes learning in school more fun and easy,” senior Gavin Haiduc told the board.

The CHS Class of 2026 graduation will be at 8 p.m. on June 5 on the football field at Peshastin-Dryden Elementary. According to Swanson, the graduation stage was one of the items ruined during the December floods, but staff are currently working on ways to elevate the seniors when they accept their diplomas.

“We'll make it work. I promise it'll be awesome,” said Swanson.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media