Iron Mountain High School will have its commencement at 6 p.m. Friday, May 23, in the IMHS Stadium.

— Anabelle Vicenzi, daughter of Chris Vicenzi of Iron Mountain and Anna Vicenzi of Iron Mountain, is valedictorian, with a perfect 4.00 grade-point average.

Vicenzi participated in student council, Tri-Hi-Y and Key Club all four years of high school and serving as council secretary this year. She has been a member of the Youth Advisory Council for three years and was service hour chair this year. She was the Mountaineer Mindset vice president this year and a member of the club the past two years, helping to destigmatize mental health issues at IMHS.

Vicenzi received the Michigan Technological University Society of Women’s Engineering certificate of merit in her junior year, has been a member of the National Honor Society the past three years and received the Principal’s Academic Highest Honor award all four years of high school. She played soccer and volleyball her freshman and sophomore year. Vicenzi has received many volunteer recognitions, including the Michigan Impact award, Youth Spirit of Hope award and the Honor award for volunteerism; she has more than 280 volunteer hours.

ETHAN RITTENHOUSE-SIEMON

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading and playing card games.

Vicenzi plans to study pre-pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

— Ethan Rittenhouse-Siemon, son of Todd Siemon of Norway and Bree Rittenhouse of Iron Mountain, is salutatorian of the class.

Rittenhouse-Siemon received high honors all four years of high school. He has participated in Key Club and Youth Advisory Council. He also played basketball for two years. He is an active member of Business Professional of America and will take part in the national competition in May in Florida in computer network technology.

Rittenhouse-Siemon is an early middle college student who will complete a fifth year at

ISABELLA PICKETT

IMHS while attending Bay College, earning both his high school diploma and an associate degree fully funded by the district.

He participates in the Upper Peninsula Construction Council work-based learning program through the Dickinson Iron Intermediate School District tech center, working for companies such as M.J. Electric, Gundlach Champion and Sikora. He currently works at System Control.

In his free time, Rittenhouse-Siemon likes to work on his truck, do automotive work, swim and build Legos.

He is undecided if he will continue college immediately after he completes his associate degree but plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in applied science.

— Isabella M. Pickett is the daughter of Mike and Stacey Pickett of Iron Mountain.

AYLA NASSEN

She received the Principals Academic Honor award all four years of high school, maintained honor roll status all four years and has been a National Honor Society member for the past three years. Pickett also received student of the week and student of the month honors several times.

In her sophomore year, she was selected to represent Iron Mountain High School at the Wisconsin Leadership Seminar, a leadership conference for students in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.

Pickett has been a fierce Mountaineer athlete. She played volleyball for two years and received a varsity letter in both track and field and basketball for four years straight. Additionally, she played varsity tennis for one year. She has received numerous accolades as an athlete: Academic All State Track & Field (’23, ’24), All State Track & Field 100m dash (D1-’23, D2-’24), All State Track & Field 400 relay (D1-’23, D2-’24), All State Track & Field 800 relay (D1-’23, D2-’24) and All State Track & Field long jump (D2-’24), Mid Pen Conference Honorable mention (’25) and UP Track finals first place in 4×100 meter relay (’22). She received D2 All UP Honorable mention for tennis singles 4 last year, track & field most improved sprinter in 2022 and 2023, track & field most valuable sprinter the past three years, and served as track and field captain last year.

Pickett is a member of many clubs and activities: HOSA-Future Health Professionals, serving as vice president and receiving first place in regionals for medical spelling, qualifying her for state finals; Key Club for four years, serving as secretary and president; Mountaineer Mindset for the past two years, serving as president; Varsity Club for four years, with one year as president; Youth Advisory Council for three years, where she served as secretary for a year; and both Tri-Hi-Y and Environmental Club for four years.

Pickett has acquired more than 400 hours of volunteer service in the community and been recognized with the Community Service Honor award, Community Service Ambassador award and the Michigan Community Impact award, all multiple times.

BENJAMIN TRUONG

She worked at Bimbo’s Wine Press, did a co-op at Bacco Construction Co. and now works at Queen City Running.

In her free time, Pickett enjoys hunting, fishing, working out and running.

She plans to pursue a nursing degree at Bellin College.

— Ayla Nassen is the daughter of Lana Nassen of Crystal Falls.

She is a homeschool partnership student who has received high honors recognition the past two years.

GIOVANNIE SALDANA

Nassen was an active member of the IMHS figure skating team for two years and received the U.S. Figure Skating Bronze award for graduating seniors this year. She also volunteered her time as a junior coach for the skating club for two years.

In her free time Nassen enjoys drawing, painting, crocheting, pottery and bracelet making.

Her plans after high school remain flexible — she may take a gap year and try to work on Mackinac Island or take community college courses. She hopes to one day be an illustrator for children’s books.

— Benjamin Truong is the son of Michael Truong of Iron Mountain and Quy Balicki of Iron Mountain.

Truong has maintained honor roll status for seven consecutive semesters and has been a member of the National Honor Society for three years. His club involvement includes three years in Environmental Club, Varsity Club, the Science Olympiad Team and Youth in Government, where he was treasurer and vice president. He was on the E-sports team for two years and a member of HOSA as well. Truong also participated all four years of high school in Youth Advisory Council, Key Club, Art Club, Good News Club, Quiz Bowl and student council, where he was vice president and treasurer.

In athletics, he competed in varsity tennis all four years, and varsity soccer for two years.

Truong was nominated to be an IMHS representative at the MyLead student leadership conference at Michigan State University his sophomore year and returned the next year as a youth mentor. He was nominated to be the IMHS student representative at Boys State his junior year.

In IMHS band, Truong was selected for Menominee River Conference Honors band the past three years. He was first chair in concert band and jazz band for alto, tenor and baritone saxophone. He played with pep band and marching band all four years and competed at Wisconsin School Music Association District Solo & Ensemble five times, receiving Division 1 rating each time, and at WSMA State Solo & Ensemble in his junior year, receiving Division 1 rating for Class A Jazz.

He has tallied more than 200 volunteer hours.

Outside of school, Truong enjoys the online game Brawl Stars, Coffee Talk, StairMaster, snowboarding and frolicking in the North Dickinson County/Felch Township area.

Truong plans to study on a pre-med track at University of Michigan.

— Giovannie Saldana is the son of Juan Saldana and Jackie Geneva of Iron Mountain.

He has maintained high honor roll status all four years and been a member of National Honor Society for the past three years.

Saldana was a four-year member of Youth Advisory Council, Varsity Club and Key Club, serving as class representative his sophomore year. He was on student council this year and has donated blood with the blood drive all four years of high school.

Saldana was involved with athletics as well, playing football, wrestling and competing in track and field over the four years, receiving academic awards for wrestling and football. He has logged more than 400 volunteer hours.

Outside of school, Saldana works at McDonald’s, participated in the UPCC Summer Trades training camp and enjoys playing video games, weightlifting and listening to music.

He plans to study construction management at Northern Michigan University.