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When the list of DHS honor
graduates for 2006 was released last week, Elizabeth Nabors, 17,
topped the list as valedictorian with a grade point avergage of
99.48.
Elizabeth, the daughter of
John and Ingrid Nabors, credits her family, friends and teachers for
her successful high school years.
“My parents have been very
supportive of me,” she said.
She also mentioned several
teachers who had been particularly helpful, saying that Terra Jobe had
been “an inspiration and very supportive” and Michelle McIlvain, the
Theater Arts teacher, had been “a good influence.”
“Mrs. McIlvain is one of
those people you can always count on,” Nabors said. She also speaks
very highly of Mrs. Denson, one of her elementary school teachers. “I
loved her class, she was my favorite teacher. My brother and sister
and I all had her for a homeroom teacher.”
One of Elizabeth’s favorite
high school memories also involves her theater class. “We (the entire
cast) got alternate to state at regionals last year,” Nabors said,
“and it was such a feeling of fulfillment.”
Elizabeth, who was born in
DeLeon, still has many of the same classmates she started kindergarten
with. “I was home-schooled for three years,” she said “but the rest
of the time I was here, and Zach Paul, who was my best friend in
kindergarten is still my friend today.”
Elizabeth’s hobbies include
Civil War re-enactments. “It’s a very fun family event,” she said.
“We travel all over the state, most recently to Hempstead, which is
down by Houston. We dress in period costume and tell the public the
history behind it. Usually on Fridays they have a school day and
bring in children and we do demonstrations. And on Saturdays and
Sundays we do presentations, and they’ll usually do a battle. After
the battle, they do the medical demonstrations with wounded soldiers.
My family is with the medical unit, and I’m usually a nurse. We’ve
been doing this for four or five years. It really is fun.”
Elizabeth’s future plans
include attending Tarleton State University.
“I want to get a degree in
education,” she said, “and come back to a small town, whether it’s
DeLeon or not, and have an influence on kid’s lives, like my teachers
had on me. I can’t decide between teaching at elementary or at
high school, but I definitely want it to be in a small town. I’m a
country girl all the way.”
When Elizabeth speaks of
being a “country girl” she’s not using the term lightly. “We have a
lot of animals,” she said, “pretty much everything under the sun --
peacocks, turkeys, chickens, sheep, goats, cows, horses, pigs, dogs
and cats.”
Elizabeth is a member of the
Liberty Baptist Church, which she describes as “small but nice.”
Some of her high school
activities include: Band, four years; Flag Corp, two years; One Act
Play, four years; Student Council President; National Honor Society;
F&M Junior Bank Board secretary; junior class secretary; FFA, four
years; FFA Leadership teams, four years; U.I.L. two years; FTA,
Academic Honors Award, three years; highest ranking girl, two years;
Student Council Peer Buddy and DAR award winner. She is also the
current high school Drum Major.
Elizabeth is not sure yet
exactly what her valedictory speech will consist of, but her gratitude
towards her parents will definitely be included.
“I
could not ask for better parents,” she said. “I am who I am because of
my parents and how they raised me.” |
