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WEST ORANGE — Putting all of her efforts into her amazing personality and study habits, West Orange-Stark senior Kelsy Miles represents what a superb student can be.

“It’s kind of a whirlwind right now because the first part of the school year has just flew by,” said Miles. “I’m going to enjoy every single second of it and make as many great memories as I can.”

Miles serves as vice president of the Student Council and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is also busy in theater, which is her passion, and she can’t wait to start working on some one-act play magic.

By the way, she also ranks No. 2 overall grade-wise in the 2023 senior class.

High School Counselor Jennifer Sims was fortunate enough to be Miles’ first grade teacher, noting she was amazing back then, always with that big smile on her face.

“She’s not the type of kid that is demanding of attention,” said Sims. “She kind of flies under the radar. She knows who she is and that’s all that matters.”

Sims sees Miles as “very intellectual” and a top-notch performer in everything she has aspired to do.

“She’s a real go-getter,” said Sims. “All of us involved with her day-to-day are super proud of her.”

Student impact

Student Council has always been a blast for Miles, but this year has been extra special.

Fish Camp was held for incoming freshmen before the year started, and that was awesome, according to Miles.

Some students came in with scared looks on their faces, wanting to hang out with their same friends and not saying much.

“We had the chance to get them out of their shell, show them the true spirit of being in high school, and that all the kids in grades higher then them want to be their friends, too,” said Miles. “We wanted them to make sure they could lean on us and come to us for advice. All of us went through that transition stage.”

Miles said the Student Council had a great time helping get the Homecoming Parade set up. And, pretty soon, they will be ready to help the Adopt-a-Street program, where students claim a street, pick up the trash and clean the area up.

“After that, we really looked forward to our Christmas Dance and to decorate it, which is really just as much fun as Prom,” she said. “Of course, we’ll have Prom later to decorate. Senior Week, though, may be the best part of the year, because we’re all so involved in sprucing up the hallways and seeing which groups can come up with the best ideas.”

Miles also loves it when it is time to scurry to her theater classes.

She was part of the All-Star Cast as a sophomore and Honorable Mention as a junior in One-Act competitions.

The love of theater began when she was a child acting in all of the church Christmas plays.

“There is not a better feeling, although it can be challenging, then to memorize lines and nailing it with a good performance,” she said

Miles thoroughly enjoys the camaraderie of the theater group. Those are the students she spends most of my time with.

They try to get it to where everything is perfect, “because we want to perform well in the contests coming up and we want to win those trophies and represent our school. We have a lot of school pride, that’s for sure.”

Future goals

Miles is also currently enrolled at Lamar State College Orange, taking phlebotomy this semester and a nursing class in the spring.

She has always embraced her education and developed study habits in elementary school.

She likes to use flash cards and the Quizlet app, a web-based application developed to help students study information through interactive tools and games.

Miles ranks second in her class behind good friend Alicia Odom.

“I wouldn’t say that Alicia and I have a rivalry going on, if it was, it would be a friendly one,” laughed Miles. “We so love working the plays together, and we are constantly going over our lines. When we do schoolwork, like essays and such, we look over each other’s work and help each other out. She’s a blast, and we motivate and push one another.”

After high school graduation, Miles wants to get into nursing school, possibly at the University of Texas.

“I will just wait and see what my best options are,” she said. “Hopefully, with my grades, I can get a few excellent scholarship opportunities.”