By Kristine Thomas
Technically, they are both valedictorians, John F. Kennedy High School seniors Marissa Donohue and Alex Morrissey said.
Officially, Donohue is the valedictorian and Morrissey is the salutatorian for the JFK Class of 2010.
“On the day they looked at the unofficial grades, I had an 89 in college English,” Morrissey said. “When I graduate, it will be an A and I will have all A’s for all four years.”
“I was upset when I heard that I was the valedictorian and he was salutatorian,” Donohue said. “This is something we’ve been working really hard together to achieve. We wanted to be valedictorians together.”
Morrissey and Donohue’s friendship began when they were 3 years old and met at the Littlest Angel Preschool in Mount Angel. Over the 15 years, they said, they have had their share of disagreements.
“Because we spend so much time together we are like brother and sister,” Donohue said.
More than anything, they agreed, they have each other’s best interest in mind – eager to help the other out in a pinch whether it’s with homework or encouragement before a test or athletic event.
When interviewed June 4, they said they planned to give the valedictorian speech together – with Donohue gently encouraging Morrissey to have the speech written early rather than at the last minute.
“He’s a procrastinator,” Donohue said. “He often stays up late getting his homework done because he leaves everything to the last minute.”
In the fall, Donohue plans to attend the University of California Santa Barbara to major in chemical engineering. “I really enjoy math and science classes,” she said.
Morrissey was elected the Future Farmers of America Oregon State President this spring and will spend 2010-11 traveling throughout Oregon to meet with FFA chapters. He will attend college in the fall of 2011.
On top of taking college prep classes, both Morrissey and Donohue were involved in numerous activities.
Donohue’s high school activities include being on the softball, basketball, track, cross country and volleyball teams, playing in the band her senior year, being president of Future Business Leaders of America, National Honor Society and Habitat for Humanity. She was also in student government, a lunch buddy and a Junior Catholic Daughter of America.
Morrissey’s activities included being on the football, basketball and track teams, student body president, band, FFA, FBLA, Habitat for Humanity, STARS leader and a lunch buddy.
There were moments when they worried they would get a B.
“When I took calculus, I had an 89 percent and I had to work really hard to do extra credit to get that extra one percent to get an A,” Donohue said.
The key to getting good grades is completing “your homework,” Donohue said. “I think we got good grades because we both have a really good work ethic.”
Some kids are afraid to ask questions when they don’t understand, Morrissey said.
“I can’t stand not understanding something,” he said. “When a teacher explains something and I don’t get it, I raise my hand and ask questions until I do. I think asking questions is part of getting good grades.”
Both Morrissey and Donohue thanked their parents for their support. They were glad for the times their parents reminded them to focus on their schoolwork, even though at the moment it only added to the stress.
“I know our parents want us to be successful and I would rather have parents that care too much than parents that don’t care at all,” Donohue said.
It didn’t really dawn on either Donohue or Morrissey of the what their achievement meant until a teacher told Donohue how “cool” it was that she was the starting pitcher for the softball team and the valedictorian.
The JFK softball team lost in the state 2A state softball semifinals. Morrissey took second in the hurdles and fourth in the pole vault in the 2A state meet.
“It feels really good to accomplish a goal we’ve had since sixth grade to get straight A’s in high school,” Morrissey said. “We really have pushed ourselves and demanded top-quality work from ourselves.”
