After four years at Montezuma-Cortez High School, valedictorian Megan Curtis has made big plans for her future. Someday she hopes to become the superintendent of the Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1.
Curtis was named the valedictorian Tuesday night after being called to the stage with three other graduates Freeland Wegner, Sarah Lewis and Krystal Brown all whom had obtained a perfect grade-point average throughout their high school careers.
Curtis said she was on pins and needles waiting for the decision.
Its surreal, and it has not sunk in yet, Curtis said on Wednesday afternoon.
I am only 18, so I dont have a lot of great advice, she said about what she would say to her fellow graduates Thursday night.
Curtis said she did not know what to expect when she and her family moved to Cortez four years ago from Albuquerque, easily the biggest school district in New Mexico.
It was scary. I came from a school with so many kids, she said.
Because M-CHS was such a small school, she was able to be more involved in activities she may not have been able to at a larger high school.
Curtis was on the swim team, and although she does not consider herself a great athlete, she loved the experience of being on the swim team.
Her best experience as a high school student was the France and Spain trip, which is something the high school puts on every three years.
She said it was a whirlwind week and she had to keep telling herself during the trip that this experience was real, not a dream.
Curtis also said she remembered her first day as a high school student very well and has grown by leaps and bounds in that four years.
I have grown so much, she said. I was not sure who I was. I am much more confident on who I want to be.
She also said, for the most part, her time in high school appeared to go by so quickly with the exception of the last few weeks of sports seasons that seemed to drag on.
She mentioned she did not really have a favorite teacher, but mentioned science teacher Eric Chandler and the chemistry subject he taught.
However, she did confess that she does have a favorite teacher but she isnt in the school.
My favorite teacher is my mom, she said. I can come home and talk to her about anything.
Curtis will be attending the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in the fall to pursue an elementary teaching degree.
I want to become a teacher because it is the most important job there is, she said and added she wants to concentrate on being an elementary teacher, so she can affect the students the same way she was as a young student.
Though years down the road, Curtis said she someday would like to be the superintendent of the Re-1 school district.
As a superintendent I would want to make the biggest difference, and I think I would enjoy it she said. She added she had known for a while she wanted to become a teacher, but the superintendent job was more recent, and the districts recent hiring of Alex Carter as its new superintendent piqued her interest about a future career.
A lot has been going on in the district, she said.
She said what she would like to see happen at the high school in the future is for the public to show the students they do care about education, since many students feel this is not the case.
This is a huge privilege to have free education, so we are going to have to take advantage of it, she said.
Curtis mom, Shelley, said she was so proud of her daughter for being named the valedictorian because she knows the hard work that was put into it.
Reach Michael Maresh at michaelm@cortezjournal.com