All Ways, A Saxon

2016 South Salem graduate, Megan Edelblute Walla, is a business owner, mentor, youth group leader, and a loyal Saxon through and through. Megan's years at South were full of leadership, Tennis, and fun with friends in and out of school. Since graduating, she earned a degree in interior architecture from the University of Oregon and now owns and operates her own company, Andy Lane Interiors. In this conversation, Megan shares how her Faith is the root of it all, how her identity has shifted since high school, and her journey to owning and operating her own business.

Connor Rosenberg (2018) and Frances Komoda (2019) are film, tv, and video game producers who, as Saxons were involved in theatre, music, sports, and all the different classes our school has to offer. In this part 2 of their interview, they share more about their life navigating Hollywood, producing video games, and those who impacted them most.

Connor Rosenberg (2018) and Frances Komoda (2019) are film, tv, and video game producers who, as Saxons were involved in theatre, music, sports, and all the different classes our school has to offer. In this part 1 of their interview, they share their life navigating Hollywood, producing video games, and what it was like growing up at South with older siblings.

2007 South Salem High graduate, Addie Box, is in the spotlight this week to start off season 4. Addie's years at South were full of soccer, connecting with friends, and attending all the school events she could. Since graduation, Addie earned her degree in social work from George Fox University, married fellow Saxon graduate, Collin, and has been raising their four kids. She also co-founded Salem Angels, a non-profit aimed at supporting foster families and youth experiencing foster care in the community.

2014 Saxon graduate, Kelly Burdick Parsell, is in the spotlight this week. Kelly's Saxon years were full of volleyball, DECA, softball, the Rowdy Dowds, and so much more. After graduating, Kelly played softball at the University of Washington where she and her team made the college world series twice, finishing 2nd in 2018. She then earned her masters at Pacific University and now teaches Special Education and runs the Unified Program over at McNary High School. She and her husband, Nick - a Saxon teacher - are raising their two year old daughter together here in Salem.

Today's spotlight is on 2021 Saxon Graduate, Annie Flood. Annie’s Saxon years were full of her involvement in leadership, ASL, Spanish, Volleyball, Tennis, Choir, and as a DLC student aide. She especially remembers those leadership classes, the Covid senior sunrise, and being in the rowdy crowds for football and basketball games. After graduating, Annie went to Linfield University - where she just graduated with a marketing and journalism/media studies degree. She also was a member of the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games for the US Women’s Sitting Volleyball team that won the Gold Medal. She’s back playing for that team, and just returned from the World Cup and Dutch Tournament where the US team took home the gold medals at both. She’s now working for the Portland Trail Blazers and training with the US Paralympic Sitting Volleyball team.

2020 South Salem graduate, Sangato Letisi is in the spotlight this week. Sangato’s years as a Saxon were full of football and wrestling, playing with his brother Samiu, rocking at the Color Wars assembly, serving as the sophomore class president, side quests for Chef, promoting SPAM and positivity, and making all the lifelong friends he has. After graduating, Gato then went to Western Oregon University where he earned a degree in exercise science and is now pursuing his masters in education. He was a three-time national collegiate rugby player while at Western and is now back in Salem working as a substitute teacher, and coaching wrestling, flag football, and football here at South.

2019 Saxon graduate, Maya Merrill is in the spotlight this week. Maya’s years at South were full of choir, swim, and water polo! She was the French Honor Society president, a member of our Environmental Club, Leadership crew, DECA, and even ran track. After graduating, Maya spent a year teaching English in France, she earned the Presidential Scholarship to attend the University of Oregon Clark Honors College where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in product design and minor in global service and science communication.

While at U of O, she served as the Art Director and Illustrator of the campus magazine, she designed posters for the Duck Men’s Basketball team, and even did a design internship in Tokyo. Since graduating, she taught design in Cambodia as a Princeton in Asia Fellow, and served as the Branding and Communications Director for an international conference in Cambodia. She’s now back in Salem working remotely for a startup and doing freelance design and video work. Maya also just launched a product design project on KickStarter that you can support using this link.

2017 Graduate, Kyle Martz, is in the spotlight this week. Kyle's years as a Saxon were full of basketball, football, and baseball memories, as well as IB, Leadership, and so much more. Since graduating, Kyle attended Willamette University where he played football and studied Environmental Science and Media and Communications. Kyle has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, completed the Great Divide mountain bike route, and worked with Special Olympics to film and produce the Unified Champion Schools Instructional Video Series. He just completed working on his first full-feature film, My New Friend Jim, with Rob Lowe and is currently living in San Francisco working at Chroma Trip doing digital imagery technician work and live color grading.

2002 Saxon graduate, Scott Collins is in the spotlight this week. Scott currently serves the Salem community as a real estate agent. His years at South were full of sporting events and connecting with friends that last to this day. He shares about his time at OSU, living in Nebraska and Colorado as his wife went through medical school, raising three kids as a stay at home dad, and the importance of caring for his mental health.