Juniors

Hello! My name is Allyson Cooke, and I am a junior at DC West. I have attended this school since kindergarten as well as most of my classmates! I currently live in Waterloo, NE. I have lived in the same house my whole life. I first joined Journalism freshman year with my brother when Mrs. Eggen suggested it to us. After my first year, I received the opportunity to be an editor in this class for the second year in a row.

While being in high school I’ve been on the honor roll and Stuco for the past two years. I love to be involved in my school by participating in sports and clubs! I have played volleyball since I was ten, back when my mom was my coach! I’ve been participating in track and basketball since middle school! I highly enjoy the atmosphere of competing at DC West. Attending a smaller school offers you the ability to get to know your classmates and teachers. I love to participate in the abundant amount of the opportunities this school offers.

While being active in many activities my family acts as my biggest supporters! Through the long nights and the early mornings my parents are always the first ones to offer help and still show up to every sporting event. I am the youngest of two kids in my family. My brother, Brook, is in college attending the Naval Academy. My mom is a nurse and my dad works in his family’s company. I also have three animals: Myla, Rocky, and Bella!

Overall, high school is definitely one to remember! High school thus far has helped shape who I am today and plan for my future. I’ve always taken pride in my grades and excelling in school. That being said, it has helped me shape my perspective on the importance of caring for everything, even the little things. I am looking forward to seeing what the last two years of high school will bring!

My name is Kami Herrington. I am a Junior in high school, I go to DC West and I’m from Valley, NE. I have been a part of the yearbook staff since my freshman year. I really enjoy taking pictures because of the atmosphere of being there and the moments and emotions it captures. I also have a photography business so if I’m not on the field for journalism I’m doing it for the players. My favorite part is knowing I’m a part of it when I get the “Hey can you send me those photos” or when will those be uploaded”.

My mom is from Valley and went to the same school as me. I work on the weekends when I don't have softball whether it is babysitting, photography, or picking up shifts at work. Some more to know about my family is, I have two siblings, a younger brother Korbin, and an older sister Kayla. I really enjoy photography in my own time. I take senior photos, family photos, business photos, and more. You can find me at @kamis_captures on TikTok and Instagram. I also love hunting, fishing, baking, and hanging out with friends/family.

This year I am hoping to get my photography business recognized. During the week nights and week mornings I will be working with the softball team to achieve our goal of making it to state again. Last year we made it to state and districts for the first time ever in school history. My long term goal for the future is to go to college in Florida for Radiology or I would also love to be a NICU nurse. To work for that I will be getting my CNA this year!

In conclusion, I’m very excited for my junior year at DC West. I will be continuing my softball career, and I cannot wait to see how our Journalism class works together because we have so much diversity, because there are two classes. This year the yearbook is going to be so amazing. I can’t wait to see how many memories and moments we capture this year through the lens!

Hi, my name is Ava Walvoord! I am currently a Junior at DC West. I live on an acreage just a few miles outside of Valley with my parents and two dogs. I love traveling to new places! I’ve visited 32 states and 7 islands outside of the US.

Growing up as the youngest of three I’ve always stood out as both the little sibling and determined to make my own mark. Both of my siblings graduated from DC West. I have lived in Valley my whole life. Family has shaped so much of who I am. Not just my brother and sister but also my parents, four grandparents, three great-grandparents and eighteen cousins.

I work hard to balance school and fun. I take pride in my school work and have been on honor roll since Freshman year. After high school, I plan on attending a 4 year college but not quite sure what I want to major in. In my free time, I love hanging out with friends, boating, swimming, and riding ATVs. I also love spending time in Marco Island, Florida.

When people think of me, I want them to remember me as someone who brought energy, laughter and fun. A person who made others feel welcome, wasn’t afraid to try new things, and stayed true to her roots.

“Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you’ll never get the same moment twice." 

- C.S. Lewis

Hi my name is Mallory Shaw and I am from Omaha, Nebraska. I’m a junior at DC West and I transferred here my freshman year because I hated Omaha Public Schools. I play volleyball and basketball for the high school team. I am also involved in many clubs such as HOSA, SALT, and FCA.

I am the youngest in my family. I have one older sister who goes to Hastings College and plays softball there. She graduated from DC West in 2024. I have a golden retrieve named Rocky and he loves to play fetch! I've been playing club volleyball at Nebraska Elite for about 6-7 years!

This past school volleyball year I made All Conference and All state honorable mention! I am hoping to play volleyball in college and go into elementary education or digital media. I have made an honor roll the two years I have been here. I hope to stay on the honor roll the next two years as well.

I am happy to be back in journalism this year and helping with the yearbook again. I can't wait to do new things in journalism this year as well. The things coming with being an upperclassman excite me such as prom and being able to have more opportunities. I am excited to take on junior year and learn new things.

Hi! My name is Talia Walsh and I am a junior at DC West. I am from Elkhorn and I went to elementary and middle school there. I knew of DC West because my cousins went here. My brother also transferred here when he was a freshman. I went to DC West games and activities and I really enjoyed the community. So when I was a freshman I transferred because I loved how the small school felt in comparison to the big Elkhorn schools.

I have one older brother, Brody. He is a freshman at Midland University. My mom is a teacher in Millard and my dad works for Pioneer Seed. I play softball and basketball for DC West. I also play club softball in the summer. I am very involved in my school. I participate inmany clubs - FCA, FBLA, HOSA, SALT, National Honor Society, and Student Council.

My first achievements for clubs would be making it into the National Honor Society and SALT. Adding on to that, I am on the leadership team for FCA. Academically, I have made the honor roll every year, and obtained a 4.5 GPA. Last year, I made NCC Honorable Mention for softball. Some goals that I have going forward academically is to maintain my GPA and to achieve a good class rank. For clubs, I hope to become president or vice president of 1 or 2 of those clubs. Lastly for sports, I would like to earn Honorable Mention or above this year for softball and for basketball.

I am hard-working and passionate about the things I am involved in. I love to be involved in the community around me. I try my best to stay positive towards the others around me. Lastly, I can’t wait for another school year with Digital Journalism.

Hi, my name is Johanna Luthy. I was born and raised in Valley, Nebraska. A little more about me is that I have attended DC West my whole life. In the future, I plan to attend Creighton to take nursing school in paramedic school then after accomplishing those my plan is to become a full-time flight nurse in hopes of getting a job with life net.

My father, Terry Luthy II, is the Fire Chief of the Valley Fire Department, and also works full time at the Fremont Fire Department as a Fire Lieutenant on A-shift. My mother, Michelle Luthy, works at DC West Elementary School as a paraprofessional. During the summer she helps her friends renovate and redecorate their homes. I have one brother, his name is Terry Luthy III. He attended and graduated from DC West. After graduating from DC West he became a full time Firefighter in Columbus, Nebraska at the age of 18.

Some activities I have done while at DC West were my sophomore and freshman year I played volleyball, and I also shot trap. I have been attending FCA since freshman year. An I also plan to start powerlifting during the 2025-2026 school year. Some of my academic goals I have this school year is maintaining a good GPA, and keeping up with good grades.

I’m so excited to be in this class this year and can’t wait to see what this year brings. The main reason I join the class is because a bunch of my friends were in the class, and its been so fun so far. Im so excited that im a junior and get to go along this journey with the people I love.

Hi my name is Ryder, I am from Omaha Nebraska, I am a junior at Douglas County West highschool. I play basketball at DC West as a point guard and shooting guard. I'm super excited to take this journalism class and learn how to take pictures and upload photos. This is my first year taking journalism as a junior so I am super excited to see how it goes.

First I would like to start off by talking about my family and some of my hobbies. I have three brothers and three sisters, I have one biological brother and one biological sister and then two stepbrothers and two stepsisters. Some of my favorite hobbies are playing basketball, hanging out with my friends, going golfing and bowling. I enjoy playing board games and videogames with my brothers and sisters. I also enjoy going to church on Sundays with my Dad and Stepmom.

Next I would like to talk about some of my goals for this school year and for the future. I decided to take this class because it seemed like it would be easy and also something that could help me with getting involved and helping be a part of something great. Being someone that helps create the yearbook and helps create posts on social media is a big responsibility. I am excited to learn and also meet some new people and achieve some of the goals I set for myself. Some of the goals I have set for myself are, getting an A in this class, helping be a part of the yearbook and making others feel involved when in this class.

Finally I just want to say I'm very grateful to be a part of something special and I am super excited to start this year off strong. I live by the quote “ Treat others the same way you would want to be treated.” This is one of my favorite quotes and I try to live by it everyday. Lastly I am very grateful for this opportunity to be a part of this class and make something great.

My name is Josue and I am a junior at DC West. I've been going to DC West my whole life. During my freshman year I was in journalism and my main focus was the sport pages. Specifically the wrestling page. Journalism is a great way to learn and see the different kinds of sports and clubs.

Some hobbies I like to do in my free time are fishing, snow boarding, and golfing. There are tons of places that I go fishing at but my favorite lake is Lake Wanahoo. Every year my friends and I go to Mt. Crescent to go snow boarding. Every other weekend me and my older brother go golfing in Fremont at valley view.

Some of my favorite sports are wrestling and baseball. I’ve been wrestling since third grade, and I’ve played baseball pretty much all my life. Some non academic goals I have this year is to place at wrestling state. A team goal I have is to make it to state as a baseball team.

As a student-athlete I’ve learned that you need to focus on academics before anything else, because if you're not passing your classes you're not allowed to play in the games. One quote that stances out to me is “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” It stands out to me because it teaches you that if you work hard you can beat anyone or anything.

Hello my name is Wyatt Janke, I am sixteen years old. I was born in Omaha, Nebraska. I am a junior at DC West high school in Valley, Nebraska. I have younger siblings. Outside of school I enjoy a lot of things. I like to travel with my family to lots of different places.

My favorite activity to do outside of school is fishing. I fish almost every day regardless of the weather. My favorite place to fish is in Florida, it is really nice there. I also like to fish a lot with my friends and family. It is a really good activity. My favorite sport is golf. I love golfing after a long day of work. A lot of my friends like to golf so it is really fun to do it with everyone.

I really enjoy going to Dcwest Highschool, I think it is the best high school in Nebraska. It is really great and I love waking up in the morning and going to school. Every teacher is very nice and always willing to help. I always feel really comfortable and able to be myself inside the school. I never feel unsafe or unwelcome.

I am very excited for this school year. I think it is going to be a really good year academically and athletically. Hopefully it will be a very good year and I will excel academically and carry that strong into senior year. I hope you all learned a lot about me and learned what I like to do. I am a very kind person and I love to go to school and learn new things. Thank you for listening to this “About Me”.

Hi, my name is Emma Kopocis. I am a junior at DC West high school. I am from Omaha, Nebraska, but I transferred to DC West high school as a freshman. I came from Millard Public Schools. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I have three siblings Jake, Megan, and Will, along with two dogs Twix and Snickers. My dog Twix is a chocolate lab and Snickers is a beagle mix and more dog breeds. My older brother and sister go to Carroll University in Wisconsin. I play club volleyball at Club Legacy Nebraska and for high school. I have played for about four years. I enjoy hanging out with my friends in my free time.

I participate in SALT and NHS at the school. I plan on joining more clubs this year. Last year I got my first varsity letter for volleyball. A few of my goals this year are to do well in school and make it to state for volleyball. I plan on attending a 4 year college and get a degree.

I am so glad to be back in journalism this year and try new things.I also am super excited for volleyball season this year. As an upperclassman, I am looking forward to bein given more opportunities. I can’t wait to take on junior year.

My name is Melanie Little and I’m in my junior year of high school at DC West and I’m from St.Louis MO. I was in Missouri for most of my life but then I wanted to move to Nebraska. I was here from the end of my sixth grade year until the beginning of my freshman year then I left and wanted back to Missouri until my sophomore year, then at the end of summer I came back to Nebraska. This is my first year of journalism, I just wanted to try something new.

I’m the older of three siblings. I have one that is two years younger than me and she just started her freshman year.I have another sister that just started her first year of middle school and then I have a brother that just started two grades. I enjoy hanging out with my friends and my family. I like to go on walks and go on bike rides. I like to meet new people but I can be shy at times and I have been told that I’m a fun person to be around but I’m just not a talkative person.

I am really hoping that I go to college after high school and go to become a special education teacher. One of my goals this year is to try more new things and to make new friends. I’m a very outgoing, friendly person but at the same time I’m a very quiet, not talkative person. I used to not be able to speak up and I used to just be quiet but now I can actually speak up for myself and stand up for myself and I’m very proud of myself for doing that now and making it that far.

I hope this year goes well for me and everyone else. I have always been told that life goes by fast and it really does. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”(George Bernard).

Hello, my name is Adisan Jeffrey. I'm a junior at DC West High School, and I’ve been going here since kindergarten. I’m from Omaha so it’s very close to home. I’ve been an active member in journalism for two years now and love it! During the school year I really enjoy taking pictures, and going to different school events to go support the Falcons.

I try to be an active member in most of the things DC West has such as their clubs, FCA, and HOSA, and I’m planning on joining more this year as well. I’ve also started a new job in the DC West district office this year as well, helping them with book work, and so far I love it! I’m excited to continue in journalism, and can’t wait to see what this year has in store for us.

Some more things about me is I have a huge family, with eight other siblings, and two dogs. There is never a dull moment in my house, and I love it. Some activities that I enjoy are playing pickleball, golf, sand volleyball, and hanging out with friends. Those are most of the things you’ll find me doing in my free time. I also love watching sports, and traveling.

I’ve had a bunch of academic achievements over the past few years, some of those include being on the honor roll all of high school, and also maintaining a 4.0 GPA. I was also chosen as the Sophomore class leader in last year's leadership dinner. I plan on attending college after high school and hopefully go into medical school, to become a radiologist! I’m excited to see where this school year takes me!