Parker County Today June 2015 | Page 67

Millsap High School Valedictorian Tiffany Norman GPA 100.7 Parents Kelli & Kevin Norman A fall in 6th grade led Tiffany to her life’s work when she broke her ankle in three places requiring orthopedic surgery and a stay at Cooks Children’s Hospital for a week. She will begin her studies at Texas Tech in the fall majoring in pre-med, which will point her towards medical school. “I’ve always wanted to do something in the medical field. I decided that I wanted to be a surgeon in high school. I want to help other people,” said this future surgeon. Tiffany has been busy while attending Millsap High School as yearbook editor, varsity cheerleader captain, class president, student council, homecoming queen and volunteering in the community with Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). She has lived in Millsap since she was five years old. “I think I will miss the closeness that we all have together. We are all kind of a family,” she said. Salutatorian Madison Walker GPA 99.97 Parents Veranica & Marvin Walker Peaster High School Valedictorian Rachel Cook GPA 103.17 Parents Larisa and Spencer Cook Salutatorian Abby MclIroy GPA 103.15 Parents Charles and Stacey McIroy Abby’s heading off to College Station in the fall to study nutrition and eventually wants to earn her credentials to be a physical therapist. “I want to work with kids doing pediatric physical therapy. I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field.” She is a native of Peaster and has attended Peaster ISD throughout. During high school she was very involved with FFA and the Peaster poultry judging team. They went to state all four years and won her junior year. “I will miss being a part of FFA. It helped me become more outgoing. I was really shy as a freshman. Now I’m able to make friends with people I haven’t met before and not be afraid in social situations. I learned leadership and working for the good of a team. Also, not being satisfied with losing and having the drive to do the best that I can do,” she said. She was also busy with student council and ran cross country. She plans to continue running, but only recreationally, and wants to take rock climbing as a PE when she gets to A&M. She currently climbs at a gym in Arlington. PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY Texas A&M will be gaining both of Peaster’s top graduates. Rachel Cook is majoring in biology and plans to become a biomedical researcher. She attended Peaster ISD beginning after 7th grade. Prior to that she was home schooled. “My mom was my teacher. We did the same work but it was more relaxed and one-on-one,” she said. She will always remember the junior class working together the year before during the school’s hall decorating competition. The class went with a galaxy theme and won the contest. “It was a great opportunity to spend time with my classmates. It was really cool and we all worked together,” she said. She’ll be moving to College Station in the fall and she said, “I’ll miss the community I guess. Everybody knows everybody kind of thing. Which is not good all the time, but there are a lot more benefits to it than there are down sides to it. I’ll miss the teachers a lot because they invest personally in our lives. I don’t think the college professors will be like that. ” She was busy this year working with the environmental committee creating an outdoor classroom and school garden. JUNE 2015 Madison will not be going far this fall to attend UTA and live on campus where she will be studying anesthetic nursing. A student at MISD since first grade, Madison has enjoyed, “Getting to know all of the teachers and how much they really care about their students and want to help us get through everything.” She’s already joined a freshman interest group at UTA that will match her up with other students who share the same major giving her a group to study with. “I’m excited to meet new people but also to find out about everything else that I’m interested in and getting to know about myself in a different setting,” said Walker. “I’m hoping to learn the new technologies that are in nursing and new ways to help people,” she continued. She’s also planning to go through rush at UTA and join a sorority. 65