May 10, 2007

Carly Bailey is salutatorian, and Alex Visbal the valedictorian of the YSHS Class of 2007.

By Virgil Hervey

When Yellow Springs High School Class of 2007 valedictorian Alex Visbal looks back over his successful high school career, he can’t do so without expressing his appreciation for a rich family life and giving a nod to his two older brothers, YSHS Class of 2003 salutatorian Eli and Class of 2005 valedictorian Miguel.

“They set standards I felt I had to measure up to,” Visbal said in a recent interview.

In discussing his alma mater, he focused on the size of YSHS. While the smallness of the school causes scheduling problems for kids who want to take the hardest classes, the advantages of the close-knit atmosphere win out in the end, he said.

“It’s nice to work with the same peers year after year,” he said. “It’s nice to grow together.”

Visbal will attend Cornell University in the fall where, he said, he has been offered a scholarship worth $25,000 per year. He doesn’t plan to declare a major for a year or two, but will enroll in the college of engineering, having in mind the possibility of a career in computer science. The rural nature of the area around Cornell reminds him of home and played a factor in his decision to go there, he said.

Visbal, the son of Jane and Miguel Visbal, has been a lifelong resident of Yellow Springs and attended all of the public schools here. He has fond memories of his days at Mills Lawn School where, he said, all the teachers were “amazing.” As for his high school teachers, he will honor Spanish teacher Kathryn Burkland at a county-wide event for high school valedictorians and salutatorians. He also credits English teacher Elizabeth Lutz, whom he had for four years, with helping him with his writing and providing him with interesting classes.

“She has been a guide,” he said. “She is young and can relate to the students.”

Visbal, who pursues a regular exercise regimen on his own, has been a member of the United Society and the golf team, where he was captain for three years. He joined the team as a freshman and, he said, he is proud to have helped it improve under his captaincy.

Salutatorian Carly Bailey said she enjoyed everything about her high school career: the school, the community, and all her teachers.

“The teachers at YSHS are flexible and open to the ideas of the students. That promotes student interest,” she said. “It was an awesome experience. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”

Bailey, who lives nearby in Xenia Township, has been an open enrollment student since the seventh grade. She attended the Antioch School before enrolling in the McKinney School. She said she thanks her parents, Chris and Carolyn Bailey, who both work in the village, for being so supportive of her academics, her extra curricular endeavors, and her choice of Ohio State University, where she intends to pursue a degree in exercise sciences and go on to be a physical therapist specializing in sports injuries.

Bailey played basketball at YSHS and owns a horse that she boards at the Riding Center, where her mother is director. She is a member of Project Charlie, a Greene County Educational Center program that talks to fourth graders about peer pressure, and TEAMS, the math and physics team that represents YSHS.

Visbal and Bailey will graduate with the rest of the Class of 2007 on Thursday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m., in the high school gym.

Contact: vhervey@ysnews.com