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Monday, May 18 2009 |
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff Writer
Two Churubusco students who are cousins have claimed the top two spots in the graduating class of 2009.
Alayna Skinner will graduate as the valedictorian at Churubusco and Allison Norris is the salutatorian.
Skinner will attend Purdue this fall and enroll in the pre-med sequence, while Norris is going to go to St. Francis in Fort Wayne and study to be a radiological technician.
"I really like science,” Skinner said. “It’s always come easy for me, and I really want to help people.”
She said she plans to specialize in pediatrics “because I like working with kids.”
Her parents are Todd and Tina Skinner and Jeff and Tina Gill. She has three younger brothers, ages 10, nine and six and she completed an internship at Lutheran Hospital.
“I enjoyed the pediatrics department there,” Skinner said.
Norris also completed an internship, hers at Parkview Whitley Hospital.
“I like fixing things,” she said. “I’d like to be a step in fixing people’s lives in general.”
Skinner said the toughest class she had at Churubusco was advanced placement chemistry, taught by Jim Folland.
“It’s probably one of the most difficult classes there is,” she said. “It kind of showed me what I’m capable of and pushed my limits.”
However, her favorite class was chemistry. “It wasn’t as hard as far as material goes, just a lot of stuff that goes on all the time.”
Her favorite teacher was Amanda Amerdel, who teaches French at Churubusco High School.
“She’s always been able to communicate stuff to us in a creative way,” Skinner said. “I had her all four years in high school, and she’s more of a friend than a teacher. She’s easy to talk to.”
Norris, on the other hand, thought AP English, taught by Erinn Chapman, was her hardest class.
“It was really hard, but I like a challenge,” she said. “I never really liked writing, but she brought out the best in me in terms of communication.”
Chapman also was her favorite teacher. “She’s really, really strict. I’m one of those people who are really organized, and I like to be told how things are going to be done. I want a drill sergeant situation. She combined a good attitude with hard work.”
Her parents are William and Dawn Norris.
Surprisingly, neither of the students said they studied hard.
“I’ve never been much of a studier,” Skinner said. “I guess I taught myself.”
Norris just laughed when asked the question. “I don’t study,” she said.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, May 19 2009 )
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