The two top students in the Brookwood School Class of 2010 happen to both be redheads. The valedictorian is Abby Lewis of Monticello, and Emily Claire Worthey of Thomasville is the salutatorian.
Named valedictorian because she has achieved the highest cumulative grade point average for four years at Brookwood, auburn-haired senior Abby Lewis has attended the independent school for nine years. Besides excelling in academics, Lewis has appeared in the past seven annual Brookwood musical productions as well as the past four one-act plays. Lewis was named the STAR student this year, won the Ann T. Larson Excellence in Writing Award, is president of the Honor Council, was Brookwood's representative to the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership weekend, is co-editor of the "War Cry" student newspaper and has served as a student government member for the past four years.
The daughter of Dave and Mona Lewis of Monticello, Fla., Abby Lewis will attend Rhodes College in Memphis in the fall, where she plans to study psychology with an emphasis in autism.
Her mother, an English and journalism teacher at Brookwood, confesses, "What I am proudest of is that Abby commutes nearly 70 miles roundtrip daily and has chores related to our home and farm."
Mona Lewis recalls times her daughter would have to bottle-feed a goat or a calf at 6:30 on cold winter mornings before heading to school.
"She and her brother (Jacob Lewis, Brookwood Class of '08) both truly understood what a sacrifice it's been for us to send them to a school like this, and they took their jobs of being students seriously," said Mrs. Lewis.
Salutatorian Emily Claire Worthey has achieved the second highest cumulative GPA for four years at Brookwood. Her long red hair has been her trademark on the cheerleading squad and in numerous onstage productions. A Brookwood student for 14 years, beginning in pre-kindergarten, Worthey has served on the Honor Council for the past three years, is a member of the National Honor Society, and last year was awarded a University of Georgia/State of Georgia Certificate of Merit for being in the top 5 percent of her class. She will attend LaGrange College as a Fellows Scholar.
Her parents are Mark and Lissa Worthey of Thomasville.
At Brookwood's Honors Assembly on April 22, the two redheads were awarded with gold cords draped around their necks. The cords will be worn with their academic regalia at baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies. They are two of Brookwood's six students who will graduate "summa cum laude," having maintained at least a 4.0 grade point average during their last four years at the school. Since they also are among the 17 seniors in the National Honor Society, they also will display gold tassels atop their mortarboard academic caps.
Brookwood School, which opened in 1970, is a college preparatory school celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. A member of the Georgia Association of Independent Schools, Brookwood is located on Cardinal Ridge Road off of Tall Pines Drive on the south side of Thomasville.
The 2010 graduation ceremony for Brookwood's 33 seniors, who have all been accepted to colleges and universities, will take place at 7 p.m. on May 15 in the Thomasville Municipal Auditorium.
Brookwood School Valedictorian Abby Lewis, right, and Salutatorian Emily Claire Worthey, left, at the Honors Assembly.
Abby Lewis, left, received the Ann T. Larson Excellence in Writing Award from English teacher Carolyn Nicholson at Brookwood's Honors Assembly on April 22.
