Two students who have spent their entire school careers at Alba-Golden will lead the Class of 2023 at graduation May 25.

Samuel Louderman will serve as the valedictorian and Cade Stovall as the salutatorian.

Louderman is the son of Jennifer and Mark Louderman and has two siblings, William, a 10th grader, and Caroline, a 6th grader.

His father is an electrical technician with Trane in Tyler, and his mother operates a truck farm, growing a variety of crops such as cantaloupe, watermelons and sweet potatoes. His grandfather is one of the last sweet potato farmers in the area.

Stovall is the son of Mandi and Jason Stovall. She teaches at First Baptist Church preschool in Mineola and he is the Lake Tawakoni division manager for the Sabine River Authority. He is also the outgoing president of the Alba-Golden school board.

Louderman plans to attend the University of Texas at Tyler, where he will commute. He plans to major in finance and management and wants to be an investment banker.

Stovall plans to attend Texas A&M, where his parents attended, and major in ag economics. He is interested in the policy development side of agriculture and wants to stay involved in the strong A&M ag program. 

He also races cross country mountain bikes for the past seven years and is also interested in the A&M cycling team.

Both have been active in FFA, where Stovall has served as the chapter president. Both participated in the career development and leadership development contests.

Stovall is especially interested in parliamentary procedure and said he gave his dad a few suggestions for board meetings.

Both are also involved with Sand Springs Baptist Church, and Stovall also is active with the youth group at First Baptist Mineola.

Louderman has served as an umpire for local youth baseball.

He said he will miss his friends and the sense of community that the school provides.

Stovall had similar thoughts, moving away from his many friends and the school which has been like family. “Everybody knows everybody,” he said. “It’s a personal connection.”

Math teacher Walter Ragsdale was mentioned by both as among their favorite teachers.

Louderman said he is patient with his students and wants them to succeed.

Stovall said Ragsdale has helped him prepare for the upper level math classes he will take at A&M.

He also mentioned all of his ag teachers as being instrumental in his education. 

Louderman pointed to retiring ag teacher Richard Lovorn as a favorite.

Among his activities in FFA has been public speaking, something Stovall said he loves.

He is also president of the National Honor Society, and Louderman is among the members.

He said his classmate has done a good job leading student organizations.

As they seek out new adventures, both agreed one thing that they won’t miss is the lack of things to do in their free time.

They will lead 40 class members across the stage at the Wagstaff Gymnasium on the campus of Tyler Junior College Thursday, May 25 at 7 p.m.