North Rowan High School Names Three Valedictorians: And they’re all St. John’s Youth!

Best friends, Hans Roemer, Spencer Everhart, Jared Hensley, stand on a raft they built from scraps for a canoe race down the Yadkin River.

By Susan Shinn Turner

When graduation ceremonies take place May 25 at North Rowan High School, there will be three valedictorians — and all three are members of St. John’s youth.

Spencer Everhart, Jared Hensley, and Hans Roemer found out in mid-May they would be sharing the top class ranking. The three are best friends and couldn’t be happier about how it all turned out.

Spencer and Hans will be roommates at Appalachian State University, while Jared will go to University of Michigan on a full scholarship. The grandson of Keith and Linda Hensley, Jared plans to study environmental engineering. He has the distinction of being the North senior who received the most scholarships this year.

“I never thought this would happen when I was studying multiplication tables,” he says of the visits to the Michigan campus, during which he was housed in a five-star hotel.

Hans, the son of Thomas and Mary Jane Roemer, plans to study sustainability.

“I want to pursue an idea I have for an invention,” he adds. “It’s a catalyst for smoke stacks that converts the smoke into natural compounds that are normally in air, reducing pollution created. I am pursuing pre-med by majoring in cellular molecular biology and minoring in engineering. I think being tri-valedictorians is awesome and I’m happy for my good friends and me.”

Spencer agrees.

Spencer, the son of Kelly and Carol Everhart and grandson and Howard and Diane Everhart. As of now, Spencer plans to study computer science.

“I like the size of the school, I like the Boone area, I like snowboarding, and they have a good football team, which was one of the most important factors for me,” Spencer says of his choice to attend Appalachian State.

Spencer says he’s not yet sure of the role the three will play in graduation.

“Ever since I was a freshman, I wanted to get to that level,” he says. “With my two best friends, it’s an amazing thing to be a part of.”

“We are blessed to have outstanding students both at St. John’s and North Rowan High School,” says Meredith Williams, a St. John’s member who serves as North’s principal. “In the case of the three North valedictorians this year, those students are one in the same.“

Clearly, Meredith is proud of her students. “The exciting thing to me is that each of the three boys took a different path through high school that spoke directly to their personal interests and passions. While one took a very heavy course load of advanced placement courses and focused in science and engineering, another took a wide array of humanities courses through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. Their extracurricular activities are equally diverse, involving several sports, band, Boy Scouts, etc.“

In many respects, that’s all part of the plan. “That’s the type of education we’ve designed at North Rowan High School — one that supports the individual learner and in doing so promotes high achievement.”

Congratulations to Jared, Spencer, and Hans!