Junior Addie Moreland is continuing her family’s legacy of going to La Salle, as all of her mom’s side of the family attended and enjoyed their high school experience here. Because of this, Moreland decided that attending La Salle “sounded like a really good opportunity,” she said.

She enjoys the strong sense of community La Salle offers. “I could probably name everyone in the class of 2024,” Moreland said. “I think that’s really unique and special.” 

Before Moreland became a Falcon, she went to Rock Creek Middle School, and even though it didn’t exactly prepare her for La Salle, she looks back on it as “a good experience to have,” she said.

Although next year will be her last at La Salle, she wants to beat “senioritis” and finish high school strong. Her goals before leaving are to write a college essay that she will be proud of, and to stay focused on her studies.

In her time at La Salle, Moreland has taken initiative in creating the Native American Student Union, which was made possible by her and junior Mackenzie Martin at the beginning of this school year. The affinity group was created to educate and shed light on the Native American experience and history — especially the challenges Native Americans have faced.

Moreland and her mother’s side of the family belong to the Grand Ronde Tribe. “It’s a really big part of my life,” Moreland said. She felt that she should create the affinity group for other students who wanted to embrace and learn about Native American culture.

Another one of Moreland’s accomplishments is taking challenging classes such as Honors Spanish 3 and AP English 3. She hopes to attend the University of Washington to study English or history, and graduate with a minor in Spanish. 

Moreland’s favorite class is Introduction to Design Thinking and Tools because of Director of STEAM and Innovation and Design teacher Ms. Carrie Coleman’s ability to make her and her classmates feel seen and heard. “I really like how she makes the whole class collaborate on things,” Moreland said. 

Among these passions, Moreland also loves traveling. She traveled to Greece with her classmates during her sophomore year and made lots of memories. Her favorite part of the trip was seeing all the educational sites and islands of Greece. Although the trip was “a really good experience,” she said, no vacation is perfect. “It was the same food every day for breakfast,” Moreland said. 

There are two pieces of advice that have stuck with Moreland. The first was taught to her by her mother: Never be unauthentic and to never try to be something you’re not. The second was taught to her in middle school. “An English teacher in eighth grade told me to make every essay better than the last,” Moreland said. This sentiment can be applied to not just essays, but to all situations in life.