SW student to compete in national braille competition
A Southwestern Elementary School student will be heading to California this weekend after she earned the opportunity to compete in the 2019 Braille Challenge. Emma Stamper, who just completed first grade, will be competing in the 18th annual national finals Friday and Saturday at the University of Southern California. Children from all grade levels up through high school competed in preliminary rounds throughout the United States and Canada this year for a chance to advance t
Waldron salutatorian ready for life after athletics
Victoria Shaw might be best known for her involvement in athletics as a student at Waldron High School. The 2019 salutatorian was a member of the girls’ basketball team that fell short in the longest girls’ tournament game in Indiana High School Athletic Association history, a five-overtime thriller against Jac-Cen-Del. She was also a member of the track and field and cross country teams. But that’s all in the past for Shaw, who graduated with a grade point average of around
Morristown salutatorian earned full ride to Marian
The Morristown High School salutatorian was “kicked out” of Starbucks four times while writing a paper for her college-level English course. Lillian Thompson started writing her English essays at Starbucks her senior year because it helped her focus better. Most of the time, she would drink a chai tea latte with almond milk. She felt like essays she wrote at Starbucks received better grades than essays she wrote somewhere else. So she often stayed until the restaurant closed
SWHS salutatorian wants to become doctor
Butler-bound Blake McClure said YouTube was his greatest supporter in becoming salutatorian of Southwestern High School. “My parents never really knew how to help me with my homework and stuff, so every night in middle school, and elementary, and even high school, I’d go home and go directly to YouTube,” he said. “I’d look up ‘organic chem tutor,’ and all that stuff. So I guess my biggest supporter was YouTube.” McClure’s parents couldn’t help him because his classes were har
Bonte's academic success fueled by family's competitiveness
Being named salutatorian of a graduating class of 264 students is a source of pride for Lindsey Bonte. It was just not her ultimate goal. “I really just wanted to beat my brothers,” she said matter of factly. Coming from a large family, all with educational and athletic accomplishments, Bonte grew up in a competitive environment. So getting one up on her band of brothers left Bonte feeling a little extra special about her recent graduation from Shelbyville High School. A late
TC salutatorian fourth generation to attend Butler
Triton Central’s salutatorian will attend Butler University because that’s where his parents met, where his grandparents went, and where his great-grandfather died. “I’m like the fourth generation to be involved with something at Butler,” Jonathan Riggins said. Riggins’ great-grandfather was an equipment manager who worked at Butler under Tony Hinkle, the legendary basketball coach that Butler’s basketball fieldhouse is named after. “In the blizzard of ‘78, he got trapped in
Douglas fulfills goal with commencement speech
Stewart Douglas looked comfortable up on the podium during Waldron High School’s commencement ceremony on June 1. Aside from maybe a few butterflies in his stomach, Douglas delivered the valedictorian speech with humor and wisdom. The speech was seven years in the making for Waldron’s top student, who finished with a 4.551 grade point average. When he was in the sixth grade, the junior high rewarded students who had all “A’s” by putting their photo on a plaque on the wall. It
Morristown valedictorian to attend Hanover
Morristown High School’s valedictorian is a metalhead who wants to work with corpses. “I kind of found out about the field of pathology, and I was like, ‘Oh, that sounds cool,’ like figuring out about disease and illness and all that,” Aidan Stoner said. So he did more research on the topic. “I decided I didn’t want to be a clinical pathologist who kind of just analyzed tissue samples all the time,” he said. “That didn’t sound interesting to me. I found out about forensic pat
Southwestern valedictorian to attend Franklin College
Madison Van Gorden received her last “B” in sixth grade, she said, and it shows. The Southwestern High School valedictorian graduated with a 4.525 GPA. “I got my first ‘B’ in third grade and I thought it was the worst thing ever,” she said. But in light of her father’s cancer diagnosis, Van Gorden now knows that a “B” is not the worst thing ever. “You never think it’s going to hit home, and then when it does, you’re kind of just like, ‘Wow, that was not something I was antici
Peck ready for new challenges at Purdue
At the age of 16, Lily Peck was put on an airplane headed for Los Angeles, California, to participate in a three-week cross-country bicycle ride that ended in Bloomington, Indiana. So beginning an educational track to become a genetic researcher with the goal of curing pediatric cancer does not seem so daunting for Shelbyville High School’s valedictorian. Peck intertwined details of one particularly long leg of that 2017 ride into her commencement speech Saturday at William L
