Meet Tyler Petermann: Valedictorian
The Class of 2017 at Clintonville High School was led by Valedictorian Tyler Petermann. Tyler will be attending Michigan Technological University in the fall, where he will major in mechanical engineering. Tyler says he’s always enjoyed math and science classes, so mechanical engineering has always been an interest of his.
“Ever since middle school when I got pushed ahead in math classes, I took geometry as an eighth grader and just kept going with math,” he said. Science has always been one of the more fun classes, more interactive and that’s when I figured I was leaning towards engineering.”
Looking ahead, Tyler points towards calculus as one of the classes he feels will help him as he continues his education because of what he was able to learn from himself.
“It was a class that I had to take, wanted to take, and it was a class that really pushed me to go for my goals and achieve what I want to get done.”
Not only does Tyler enjoy the honor of being valedictorian, but he also gets to share being one of the top two scholars of Clintonville with close friend and Salutatorian Josh Kutchenriter, which was a friendship that was developed freshman year.
“Freshman year English, we really started to have a lot of advanced courses together, so pretty much in every class that we can, if there’s a partner project, we’re partners doing it together, so you can see how that kind of correlates between us. We’ve done a lot of it together.”
Meet Josh Kutchenriter: Salutatorian
How does it feel to be Salutatorian?
I did lose to [Tyler] here, but we’re kind of best friends, so it’s nice knowing my academics come there and buckle me down for the future?
Did you and Tyler have a little competition to see who would be valedictorian?
We kind of knew all along [we’d be the top two in class.] We were tied for a while, but we worked together a lot and he came out on top, but we were even going to be roommates for a while, but Madison sparked my interested more.
What will be your major at UW-Madison.
Chemical engineering.
What was the best part about high school?
All of the friends and experiences that I got to take. It just really just opened my eyes to where I want to go in the future.
What class would you say was the most rewarding?
Chemistry with Mr. Crumbaugh. He’s a very interesting teacher. He gives you a lot of life talks and really prepares you for the future and doesn’t stress too much about academics, but really the broad picture of life. He has great life advice and really is a wide thinker.
What activities/involvements were you in?
I’m in soccer, cross country, track and field. I managed the basketball team through doing statistics. I was involved in class officers, student council, prom committee, youth group, and a bunch of other things.
Did you ever find it difficult balancing those activities with academics?
All the time, but it’s so rewarding to be involved that you have to do it.
What all went into the work towards achieving second in class?
It really just came down to getting my work done, buckling down, knowing what I had to do, and dedicating the time to getting it done. Academics always came first, but I live on a farm, so I have to do the farm work at home, but academics is right up there.
Can you think of a project or assignment that challenged you most?
I’d say the English project where we had to re-invent something and sell it to the community members through a recycling project. We took some old pallets and made a bench and a table. We then sold it to Miss Howe, who’s a teacher here.
What did you learn throughout that process?
That something that is broken can be reused, prettied up, and made into something new.
What school subject prepares you most for life ahead.
Math with Mr. Reese. You really learn to just dig deep and study hard.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’d like to see myself graduated from college, maybe going to grad school, and really just making my way in the chemical engineering field, maybe working in a refinery or something like that.
Describe your senior year in one word.
A flash. Blink of an eye. It’s gone by so fast and it’s been so amazing, especially with all my involvements, it’s been gone in an instant.
What piece of advice would you offer underclassmen?
Get involved and take your studies seriously because high school is so much fun, but academics will make it fun. I got involved right away. I joined soccer and soccer started before my high school career did, it started in June and from there it’s just been everything I could possibly get involved in.