Two Impressive Norcross High Graduates Prepare For Life

Norcross High School graduating seniors Andrea Howard and Kristen Knowles chat casually with their fellow classmates during a buffet dinner for the senior class, held under the high, spacious portico at the side entrance of Norcross High School. 

Despite the stormy weather the night before graduation, these seniors seem oblivious to the rain – interested, instead, in the warm fellowship of their longtime friends. They know that after graduation, they won’t see most of them for a long time, perhaps ever again.

“It’s bittersweet,” says Andrea when she describes finishing high school and moving on.

But Andrea and Kristen aren’t just a couple of graduating seniors, they are the valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2011.

Andrea and Kristen knew of each other all through elementary and middle school, but didn’t actually meet each other until eighth grade.

“The first thing I heard when I met her (Kristen) was, ‘I’ll bet you're that smart girl that gets all 100’s,’” Andrea laughs.

“We got really close in ninth grade,” says Kristen. “We were lucky enough to have some classes together.”

Andrea’s interests included sports, while Kristen’s interests were in the school’s music programs.  Now these honor students are preparing for impressive college careers. Kristen had considered Vanderbilt, but decided to go to High Point University in High Point, North Carolina to study music and human relations.

“I could only find two schools offering a human relations major,” says Kristen, “and High Point has a very personal ‘feel.’  I’m really excited about it.”

Meanwhile, Andrea has been accepted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy with hopes of studying law and perhaps entering politics someday.

“I went up there (Annapolis, Maryland) for a summer seminar at the Naval Academy and absolutely fell in love with the program,” Andrea recalled. “I’m definitely a ‘homesick’ kind of person, but I called my mom from Annapolis and said, ‘Mom, I feel at home right now.’”

Both young ladies speak with a maturity that exceeds their years. The two exude a confidant nature that is very personable. And both seem to be comfortable with the natural use of “Ma’am” and “Sir” as part of their daily vocabulary – evidence of the influence that both their teachers and their parents have had in their lives.

In Andrea’s case, her mom is also a teacher at Norcross High School.

“She’s my best friend,” Andrea says with a smile, “and I’m going to miss seeing her everyday at seventh period.”

Andrea’s family is very supportive of her choice to serve in the military – fully aware of the inherent risks.

“We’re all big believers in God and know that when it’s my time to go, then it’s my time to go,” says Andrea. “We all have faith that I’ll be going to the right place.”

The Class of 2011 at Norcross High School is 519 students strong with 115 honor students in their ranks – an impressive number, especially when considering the fact that the Gwinnett County Public School system achieves these numbers with far less money per student than many school districts in other parts of the country.

According to Gwinnett County Public Schools spokesman Jorge Quintana, the district was able to educate – and produce a very large percentage of honor students – at a cost of only $7,871 per student this year.  By comparison New York Public Schools spend over $17,000 per student per year and suffer a dropout rate of more than 60 percent.

Of the nearly 9,000 Gwinnett County students in the Class of 2011, 88-percent plan to attend college and have landed scholarships totaling more than $108 million – excluding the HOPE.  What’s more, over half of the graduating class took at least one college-level Advance Placement (AP) course during high school, with 1,905 honor students completing school with at least a 90 grade percent average.

But few did better than Andrea Howard. Top of her class, Andrea managed to complete her ACT tests on time - despite an injured finger – and finish with a perfect total score.

She really is, as Kristen put it in eighth grade, “That smart girl that gets all 100’s.”