The two brightest stars that made their way across the stage at Baldwin High School's graduation were our Valedictorian Ashleigh Hawk and our Salutatorian Rebecca Hess.
During her high school career, Ashleigh Hawk took "straight A's" to a whole new level. Hawk earned her spot as this year's valedictorian after having completed her entire academic experience having never made anything less than an "A" in every single class she took, earning a perfect 4.0.
However, Hawk isn't resting on her laurels quite yet. She has been accepted to attend Emory University in the fall and will be pursuing a joint degree with Georgia Tech in biomedical engineering and material science. Hawk already has her hopes set high that her undergraduate degree will put her in a position to explore a medical degree at Duke University, helping her achieve her dream of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon.
"For me, it just meant that all my hard work had paid off in keeping those standards high," said Hawk. "It was rewarding."
Salutatorian Rebecca Hess also accomplished a perfect 4.0 GPA during her academic career here in Baldwin County but has her eyes set closer to home. "I was originally accepted to the University of Georgia," Hess said, "but after earning all of my dual enrollment credits I found I could graduate much sooner if I attended Georgia College."
Hess has earned a total of 45 college credits during her time at Baldwin High School by participating in the dual-enrollment program between Baldwin High School and Georgia College. Those 45 credits have her on pace to graduate with a bachelors two full years early and, as she took the college classes while still in high school, they were all completely free of charge.
Hess plans to begin Georgia College in the fall of 2017 where she will major in science and economics. Her hard work in the classroom achieving Salutatorian will also continue to pay off as she is a recipient of the Zell Miller Scholarship that will provide her a free-ride until she graduates only two short years down the road.