Owen Golter, 18, left, Pendleton High School senior and associated student body president, leads the welcome back assembly Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, at PHS with Grace Pitner, 17, senior and associated student body treasurer.

PENDLETON — Pendleton High School welcomed the class of 2023-24 with an assembly the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 29, gathering students together in the school’s basketball gym to rally around school spirit, PHS Principal Patrick Dutcher said.

“The last two years here in Pendleton, I’ve been fortunate to have great senior classes in back-to-back years, and I expect nothing less of this senior class,” said Dutcher, who is beginning his third year as PHS principal. “They’re making sure the traditions of Pendleton High School will never be forgotten and they’re doing a really good job leaving this place better than they found it.”

Dutcher said he was impressed with the students’ energy at the morning assembly, as they chanted “We are Buckaroos!” to music as a welcome to the school year.

Looking back on the previous school year, Dutcher said it was clear how the coronavirus pandemic changed the learning environment, but he was confident that now two years clear of the pandemic’s impact on the school, the education scene was returning to normal.

“The biggest thing is going back to old habits, and now we’re going back to all the things we did before the pandemic,” Dutcher said. “Luckily, we’ve adapted to the times, and our teachers do a great job utilizing and maintaining online resources, but having students in the building is the best way to teach.”

Keeping students in seats is a big priority for PHS, Dutcher said.

“Enrollment is great, we’re in a declining enrollment state, but we’re doing a good job here,” he said. “Helix became a charter school, but the impact hasn’t been large. PHS gives out an average of $3 million in scholarships. We have robust AP and honors courses, we have great career technical education, great music, theater and sports programs. We provide phenomenal opportunities for a 21st-century learning environment.”

Part of that 21st-century learning environment is maintaining a robust career and technical education program, which continued to grow, Dutcher said.

“We brought in two new CTE teachers last year, but now we’re bringing on Walla Walla Community College for our culinary program,” he said. “Offering college credits through the CTE program is crucial, and bringing on Walla Walla Community College covers a hole in our CTE offerings so now we’ll have them sponsoring our culinary program.

Moving forward in his tenure as principal of PHS, Dutcher said he wanted to focus on the traditions and strong community around the school to drive it to new heights.

“My goal for Pendleton High School is to be a marquis school in the state, there’s so much pride in this town and we want to build on that,” Dutcher said. “There’s so much pride from people who are from Pendleton, who went to PHS. We have a lot of support in this town, so we want any student who wants to come here to feel like they can be successful.”

The East Oregonian updated two photo captions to correct the misspelling of Owen Golter’s last name.