By Sarah Nagem

Salisbury Post

Travis Jordan hasn't gotten anything below an A on a report card since the second grade.

It was a B, probably in English, said Jordan, who will graduate from Jesse Carson High School this spring.

"I'm a math kind of guy," he said.

Almost 400 high school seniors with Jordan's kind of committment to education were honored Thursday night at the 19th annual academic achievement banquet. These Rowan County students have earned a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher as of the second semester of this school year.

Jordan's grade-point average is 4.42, he said. His rationale for the hard work is this: "If you're going to do something, you might as well do it your best."

He plans to head to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to study engineering.

Other students also said the many hours of studying were worth it in the end. Bethany Bradshaw, 17, has taken three advanced-placement classes at South Rowan High School — statistics, government and environmental science.

Her grade-point average is 4.5, she said.

Education has always been a big part of Bradshaw's life, she said, but it hasn't always been in a traditional setting.

She was homeschooled until she started middle school, Bradshaw said.

When it came to grades, Bradshaw obviously didn't have much trouble adjusting to the structure of a regular school. In her family, education is key.

"My parents have pushed it, and it's just something that's important to me," Bradshaw said.

It's important to Lisa Hill too. The 18-year-old is a senior at East Rowan High School, where she has earned a grade-point average of 4.17.

Hill knew she wanted to attend the College of Architecture at UNC-Charlotte. She faced stiff competition to get accepted, but the hard work was worth it, she said. She will begin attending there in the fall.

Like many high-school athletes, Hill juggled a hectic sports schedule with a tough class schedule. She played basketball for four years and volleyball for three.

It wasn't always easy, but she managed to strike a balance between athletics and academics.

"Late nights," Hill said. "Very late nights. Homework on the bus rides."

Gary Weaver had similar experiences at South Rowan High. He played football all four years.

"I sucked it up and just dealt with it," Weaver said. "Get home from practice and just do what you got to do."

Weaver got the job done. He has a grade-point average of 3.75, he said. His grades are important to him.

"I've always wanted to be successful in everything that I do, so school is one of them," he said.

The prospect of success also motivated 18-year-old Spencer Newsome, who will graduate from Carson.

"Good grades will get you into a good college," Newsome said. "You can make money, and then you can help people out with that. It helps everybody, really."

With six advanced-placement courses and a grade-point average of 4.68 under his belt, Newsome is headed to UNC-Chapel Hill. He's considering physics as major.

During the banquet, two seniors were randomly selected to win $1,000 scholarships from the Ralph W. Ketner Family Academic Award.

Ellie Scoggins of Carson and Andrew Blank of East Rowan High won the scholarships.

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