The last first day: Cascade seniors look ahead while holding on to home

Georgia Holm poses in front of the Tokyo skyline, where she spent a semester studying abroad.

ISHA PARUMANA

Jaden Parker poses with a mannequin showcasing some of his recent designs.

KYLEE ALEXANDER

Allie Ward stands proudly, bespeckled with mud from a recent race.

STEVE LABONTE

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LEAVENWORTH – For Cascade High School’s rising seniors, the first day of school is no longer simply the beginning of another year, but the beginning of the end. 

For Allie Ward, Georgia Holm and Jaden Parker, senior year brings excitement about college, new communities and greater independence, but also a growing awareness that many of the people and places they have known since childhood will soon become memories. 

Each is approaching the transition differently. Ward is preparing to leave Leavenworth while continuing her competitive mountain biking career. Holm is looking forward to independence and exploring life beyond the valley. Parker is focused on fashion design and finding a way to leave a mark on Cascade before moving on. 

All three share a desire to make the most of one final year at home.

For Ward, the realization is tied to a tradition that has followed her since kindergarten. Every first day of school, her mother has taken a photo of her standing at the family’s front door. This year, the tradition will continue, but for the last time.

“My mom will still draw me a sign and have me stand at the same front door that I’ve stood in front of every year since kindergarten, waiting for her to take a photo,” Ward said. 

Next year, the photo will be taken somewhere else. 

“This year will be my last photo in front of my family’s front door,” Ward said. “Next year I’ll have a new door that my mom will make me take a selfie with on my first day of university.” 

The change feels both intimidating and exciting. 

“It’s crazy to me that it’s my last school year home,” Ward said. 

Ward’s summer has been filled with mountain bike racing, making it difficult to think about the approaching school year. Her season will continue into the beginning of the high school year, and she will begin her Wenatchee Valley College Running Start classes later in the year. 

She will also have plenty to balance. After winning the national championship, Ward qualified for the Enduro Mountain Bike World Championship in Finale Ligure, Italy, in October. She is honored to represent her community but said balancing school and racing is one of her biggest concerns for the coming years of university. 

After graduation, Ward hopes to continue racing downhill and enduro and compete in freeride skiing. She is currently considering Western Washington University, For Lewis College, Montana State University and Thompson Rivers University, with kinesiology among the programs she is considering. 

Running Start has already helped prepare her for college. Ward expects to graduate with an associate degree, allowing her to complete many prerequisites before entering a four-year university and potentially reducing the cost and time required to earn her degree.

What Ward will miss most is not the school itself: it is the familiarity surrounding it. 

“I am going to miss the community that we have at the high school,” she said. 

Growing up in a small town means recognizing people almost everywhere, inducing childhood friends who may have taken different paths.

Holm is also thinking about the people she has grown up with. She said she is excited for senior year and the traditions that come with it, particularly the chance to spend more time with her classmates.

“The thing I’m looking forward to most this year is hanging out with my graduating class and getting closer to classmates that I’ve known for so long but never had the chance to truly befriend,” Holm said.

Unlike Ward, who already has several possibilities in mind for college, Holm’s plans remain broad. She hopes to attend a four-year college somewhere near the ocean but has not settled on a particular school or career. The uncertainty is one of the things making senior year feel real.

“The one thing I’m a bit nervous about is definitely applying to college and having to start planning what I want to do after high school,” Holm said. 

She is also looking forward to independence, even as she recognizes the challenges that come with it. 

“I’m most excited to be on my own and getting to do anything I could possibly imagine,” she said.

Before leaving, Holm wants to spend more time exploring the place she has called home.She hopes to travel around Washington and Chelan County and find places she has never seen before. 

“I’m hoping to go outside more and enjoy the beauty of our town,” she said. “I definitely haven’t appreciated it enough in the past.”

Parker is also looking forward to life beyond Leavenworth. He has a clear idea of the direction he wants to take: fashion design school. For Parker, fashion is a form of self-expression and an opportunity to create something uniquely his own. 

“I know that I’m the only one who can create like me and I think that more people deserve to see that I do,” he said.

As senior year approaches, Parker is also thinking about what the Class of 2026 will leave behind at Cascade.

“I would want people to remember that we can leave an impact on the world and be remembered as students from Cascade High School,” he said. 

Parker hopes to become more involved in the school and community and find ways to make Cascade better before graduating. 

Holm shares that desire for the senior class to leave a positive impression.

“I hope people remember our class as being united and making high school a fun place to be,” she said.

For all three students, the future is accompanied by some uncertainty. 

Parker is excited about meeting new people but nervous about living alone and navigating the responsibilities that come with independence. Ward looks forward to experiencing a new community, ski area and network of mountain biking trails but has never lived anywhere besides Leavenworth. Holm is excited for independence but is nervous about mapping a path for the coming years

The seniors are also looking back at what they would tell their younger selves.

Ward wishes she had worried less. 

“It’s ok to let things happen,” she said. “No need to be stressed out…Life’s not worth living if you don’t have a smile while you’re doing it,” she said. 

Holm said she wishes she had understood that even students who do not love high school will likely feel something when it ends. 

“Leaving is still going to be sad,” she said.

Her advice is to care about grades without letting them become the measure of the entire high school experience.

“Grades aren’t the most important thing you’ll come away from high school with,” Holm said.

Parker’s advice is even simpler.

“Nothing’s really that serious,” he said. “You don’t have to take yourself as seriously as possible.”

As the final first day approaches, the three seniors are preparing for different futures, but their priorities for the year are remarkably similar: spend time with friends, appreciate home and make the most of the moments that will soon become firsts for the last time. 

For Ward, it means taking advantage of time with friends and family before everyone begins a new chapter. For Holm, it means exploring more of the community she has grown up in. For Parker, it means finding a way to make Cascade better before leaving it. 

The first day of senior year may look much like the first day of any other school year, but for these students, it is also the first step toward everything that comes next. 

Hazel Eschen: 509-731-4392 or hazel@ward.media