Haslem, Clendenen, Wambeke top students at Rocky Mountain

The top honor students at Rocky Mountain High School have a variety of interests and destinations in mind as they take the first post-high school steps in their young lives.

Bryce Haslem is the 2025 valedictorian, and Nathan Clendenen is the salutatorian. Hayden Wambeke has received the Daniels Fund Scholarship.

Haslem, the son of Josh and Stacey Haslem, is finishing his high school career with a 4.0 grade point average. He has been active in basketball at RMMS and soccer at Powell High School, along with student council, Future Business Leaders of America and the Culture and Travel Club, of which he is president.

Future plans include starting a power window washing business with Tucker Jackson and Alex Hedges, then serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following his mission, he plans to enter the entrepreneurial field.

Haslem credits his parents as his inspiration to succeed, noting that they taught him values that will stick with him after high school. He named science teacher Daniel Robertson as a teacher who had made a difference in his life, noting, “He has always been straightforward and tries to teach us lessons beyond science class.”

Asked what advice he has for younger students, Haslem replied, “It’s easier to get everything done, then do as you want, than to do as you want and then get everything done.”

Clendenen, the son of Shang and Deidre Clendenen, carries a 3.956 GPA and has been active in National Honor Society (currently president), student council as senior class secretary, Knowledge Bowl and Mathletes. He said he helped create the Culture and Travel Club.

Clendenen said he plans to work for his father’s landscaping business, then attend Penn State University and major in computer science with perhaps a minor in a foreign language or astronomy.

Asked what has propelled him to success, he noted, “I like to stay persistent, maintain focus, keep going and try to push myself – do the best I can for myself.”

He said math teacher Danielle Malson helped him in math classes, calling her “very helpful and supportive.”

Clendenen’s advice for up-and-coming students is to “think outside the box, don’t be cut and dried and think for yourself.”

Wambeke, the son of Kendal and Angie Wambeke, is the lone north Big Horn County recipient of the prestigious Daniels Fund Scholarship. He carries a 3.83 GPA and has been active in football, basketball, wrestling, track, FFA (president), FBLA, the Cultural and Travel Club, Mathletes, Knowledge Bowl, National Honor Society and the RMHS Guitar Class.

He plans to attend the University of Wyoming and work toward a double major in business management and entrepreneurship and eventually start his own business in construction or a related field.

“I’ve always wanted to do the best I can and not come up short,” Wambeke said when asked what has pushed him to succeed. “I don’t want to not be all that I can be.”

Asked who has been an influence in school, he said former RMHS head football coach has been a big factor early in his high school career and Sally Bernhisel over the last two years.