Academic All-Star – Brentwood High
Published December 16, 2015
The Academic All-Star award is given to students who exhibit a positive attitude and a commitment to excellence in the classroom. Each Academic All-Star is chosen by his or her principal and receives a framed certificate, coupons to Sonic Drive-In and a free gift courtesy of Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More in Franklin.
Education is a gift that Brentwood High School Academic All-Star Caroline Enright does not take for granted. As she prepares to enter the final semester of high school, Caroline says her thirst for knowledge is as strong as ever.
“I love learning,” said Caroline. “This high school provides students with so many options of how to learn, and there are incredible teachers at each level. They’ve taught me important life lessons and how to be a good citizen to the world.”
For the past two years, Caroline has been in charge of the Best Buddies program at Brentwood High. And while running Best Buddies takes up a lot of her time, she says it truly is a labor of love.
“This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,” said Caroline. “I’m going to work with people with disabilities. Just seeing what we’ve been able to do here at Brentwood High – not just for the students who are in Best Buddies – but how we’ve impacted the school as well, that’s what my experience is really all about.”
Not only is Caroline involved in Best Buddies, but she is also a BE NICE student ambassador and a member of the WCS Student Advisory Council. Outside of school, Caroline devotes much of her time to church activities. In fact, it was through a mission trip that she first traveled to Africa in 2014, a journey that had a profound effect on her.
“The first trip was with a real large group of about 50 people and it was called Nashville Sings with Uganda,” said Caroline. “It was a cool introduction but I definitely wanted more than just playing with kids and singing, so I got to go back this fall. I worked specifically with one ministry called Divine Care. They took me to the two schools in the country that do services for people with disabilities and so I got to see how those schools work.”
Although she plans to attend college after graduation, Caroline says she hopes to eventually return to Africa to work with people with disabilities. In the meantime, Caroline says those experiences will continue to motivate her to make the most of every opportunity.
“These trips just reaffirmed how much education is a gift and how valuable it is,” said Caroline. “It kept me from going in a senior slide because while I was in Africa I was holding and playing with kids who would give anything just to go to school, and that mindset changes everything in terms of being okay with homework and wanting to learn more.”