WAUSA – Matthew Rumsey has finished at the top of his class.
The recent Wausa High School graduate earned the honor of valedictorian for the 21-member Class of 2024.
He and his classmates were celebrated during their commencement ceremony on May 11, during which he gave the valedictory address. Class President Addison Wynia was the salutatorian.
“It feels good,” Matthew said in a follow-up interview of being the valedictorian, adding he “kind of had a feeling” he would earn the honor.
The 18-year-old son of Jeremy Rumsey and Kristin Rumsey finished his high school career with a cumulative grade-point average of 98.96 percent and graduated with honors for maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of 95 percent or higher for four years.
Matthew, who was crowned as the Vikings’ 2023 Homecoming King this past fall, participated in several activities while in high school, including basketball, football, golf, band, Future Business Leaders of America, National Honor Society and Quiz Bowl.
He earned the national championship in Word Processing at the 2023 FBLA National Leadership Conference, held June 27-30 in Atlanta, Ga.
Former Wausa FBLA Chapter adviser Dawn Friedrich – who started the program in 2000 – confirmed that Matthew made history as the first Wausa chapter member to earn a first-place finish at the national leadership conference.
Matthew also placed first in Class D on March 28 in the categories of Intro to Wellness/Sports Physical Education and Personal Finance during the 2024 Northeast Community College Scholastic Contest.
Of being finished with high school, Matthew noted he is “a little bit sad, but also kind of happy to be done. I’m going to miss these people.”
Now that he has completed high school, Matthew is planning to attend Chadron State College in western Nebraska and major in medicine.
“I’m going to miss the people, but I’m ready to move on and see what my future brings,” Matthew said.
