St. Louis High School just announced its top 10 students for the graduating class of 2024! These students have worked day in and day out, everyday for the past four years in order to earn their rightful spot on the coveted “Top 10 List”. The Valedictorian is Curtis Brashaw, and the Salutatorian is Rowan Harris. Rankings from third to tenth are as follows: Myah Pitcher, Rachel Jewell, Lexie Thayer, Kylie Acker, Lucee Mikek, Dominick Girard, Madyson Hartman, and Monika Borie rounded out the list at tenth place.
Valedictorian Brashaw commented on all the work that went into not only achieving his goal of valedictorian, but keeping a balanced life filled with school, sports, clubs, charities, Model UN, BPA, blood drives, fundraising, college courses, and a job with, “I suppose that I would say that everything I did in and out of school contributed to my success. A lot of my time was spent in extracurriculars like serving on the State Executive Council for Business Professionals of America. While I definitely had some of the most fun with BPA and my other clubs, I also learned some very valuable skills and was able to grow intellectually and socially. I would also say that none of this would be possible without the correct balance between working and having fun — ‘work hard, play harder” — as they say.”
But now that these students seem to have achieved their final goal as high school students, that begs the question, what’s next for these brilliant young minds after graduation?
Brashaw plans to attend the University of Notre Dame in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in International Economics. He eventually wants to get a job involving international automobile marketing.
Harris plans to take a gap year to embark on professional pursuits before making the decision on whether to attend college. However, Harris has mixed feelings about earning her place as this year salutatorian. “In middle school I didn’t think I’d be able to make top 10 my senior year, so I decided to lock in for the next four years. And when I found out I was Sal, I felt a huge rush of relief. But when I was looking at others while working towards this goal I kept thinking about other students that do so much more than me to try and win it, and that just drove me to work even harder.”
Pitcher plans to attend Central Michigan University and right now is undecided on her major. Pitcher has an unparalleled love for art, so even though right now she is undecided on what to do after highschool, she knows that art will always play a big part in her personal and professional life.
Jewell plans to attend Bethel University in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Worship Arts and Music. She plans on eventually getting a job involving either teaching music or leading worship.
Thayer plans to attend Alma College in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. She would ideally like to get a job teaching secondary English.
Acker plans to attend Saginaw Valley State University in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She also expressed how if the opportunity expressed itself, she would consider chasing her masters degree in marketing too. Acker would ideally like to get a job working for the Detroit Lions Marketing team in some aspect in the future, but she is more inclined to go into social media marketing. “I was super excited and proud that I made the top ten. I made sure I stayed on my work the past four years. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m glad my work has paid off.”
Mikek plans to attend Michigan Technological University in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. She eventually wants to get a job involving city layout/construction.
Girard plans to attend Mid Michigan Community College in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in interior design. He wants to get a job for local and eventually commercial design.
Hartman plans to attend Montcalm Community College in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in animal science. She eventually wants to get a job directly caring for farm animals.
Borie plans to attend Central Michigan University in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in finance. Borie commented on what she would like to do with her degree by stating, “Ummmm… I see myself working in some sort of office (I guess) dealing with money.”
