Rigby High School honors alumna headed to the Olympics

East Idaho snowboarder Jessika Jenson has made the U.S. Olympic slopestyle snowboarding team.

Twenty-two-year-old Jenson graduated from Rigby High School in 2009. Current students just missed going to school with her, but they wanted to do something special to honor Jenson.

“She needed to be recognized as somebody from Rigby who has gone and done something great. So we decided to build the snowboard and paint it, and sign it and give it to her,” said Rigby High School senior Randi Anderson.

Anderson and her classmates decorated a snowboard with Jenson’s name, Rigby High colors and the Trojan mascot. The project is a collaborative effort: the board was donated by a student, the art department painted it and when it’s finished, it will be covered in signatures from students sending their admiration and support Jenson’s way.

Jessica Erhardt taught Jenson several years ago.

“She did miss some school for competition and obviously it paid off for her. She did come back and like most athletes they are so driven, so dedicated. She was able to get her work done; she did it well. She often asked for any extra help,” said Erhardt.

This is Rigby High School’s first year in it’s brand new building, but now the new features, like TVs throughout the school, actually help students support Jenson. The school showed her qualifying events and will continue to do so throughout the games.

Anderson has been a fan of Jenson for years.

“My brothers snowboarded with her. I know a lot of people who snowboard with her. We used to see her at Kelly Canyon all the time,” Anderson said. “She’s just so good. I can’t even imagine doing some of the stuff that she does. I’m not the best snowboarder around but those tricks are so amazing and it’s awesome to see that, especially a fellow woman do those kinds of things.”

Rigby students will present the finished snowboard Friday night at halftime of the boy’s basketball game.