Why do birds sing? Where do they live? How much do they eat? Where do their babies come from? What time is it?
As every young child tries to figure out the world, they have a million questions.
For Oakwood High School’s salutatorian Katelyn Blankenship, the time her family took to answer those questions fueled her love for learning.
“Always supporting a child’s curiosity is one of the most important things that I think you can do to support them,” Blankenship said. “The opportunity to learn is a way to empower yourself. Being educated allows you to make informed decisions and overall make the world a better place.”
Blankenship said her mom and grandpa always pushed her to go out of her comfort zone.
“They supported me in every dream, no matter how big,” she said.
Each day they sat with her after school while she completed her homework.
“This structure provided me the work ethic I have today,” she continued.
It was also in growing up in the Oakwood School District that Blankenship found a safe place to imagine her possibilities.
“As far as my teachers, every single one of them has been supportive of any ideas or projects that I throw their way,” she said. “Specifically, Ms. Cooper.
“As my student council advisor, we worked together on every project. She always encouraged us to do more, being conscious of others and to just never relax on our way to our goals. In everything we did, she made sure we did it well.”
Blankenship also said Oakwood High School Principal Tim Lee has also been a driving force in her education.
“He and Mrs. Lee always made school enjoyable for me on days where I was stressed,” Blankenship said. “Their big smiles and positive comments make Oakwood High School a happy place to be.”
Over four years at OHS, Blankenship participated in activities outside of the classroom, serving as as the National Honor Society Vice President, Student Council Treasurer and State Liaison, cross-country team captain, art club president, band member, softball player, drama club member and as the Oakwood Times Editor in Chief.
She became an Illinois State Scholar, exceeded the benchmark on the SAT, served as a DARE Role model and was named the Outstanding Youth Citizen of the Senior Class.
“In student council I created a positivity wall full of positive quotes written on sticky notes,” she said. “This was so meaningful to me because the kids in my school took all of them and put them in their lockers. I saw them smiling at them on a tough day, it was amazing.”
She also organized a sexual assault awareness program for Oakwood students to learn about how they could protect themselves as they head into college.
But her favorite project was the senior citizen dance held at OHS last month.
“To see all of the elder people dancing, smiling and teaching us younger kids was amazing,” she said. “Everyone smiled and had a great time.”
Blankenship said that while she will take the lesson of work ethic and preparedness with her as she attends the University of Illinois, the most important lesson she will take is kindness.
“We are all human, all people trying to reach our success,” Blankenship said. “It is only right of us to propel each other to our goals.
Helping each other is the only thing we can do to make this planet a better place. Smiles make the world go round. Love is the reason we are all here, so we should add to it, not take away from it.”
Blankenship plans to double major in Astronomy and Chemistry with hopes of earning a doctoral degree and working on a project pertaining to Mars.
