Achievements And Aspirations: Meet Dade County High School Class Of 2024’s Top Four

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

This Friday, May 17th, Dade County High School will celebrate the Class of 2024. Four students in the graduating class are receiving particular recognition for their academic accomplishments. The top four are Jack Dupree (valedictorian), Anna Ballard (salutatorian), Jordan Biddle (faculty representative), and Abby Guffey (class representative).

These four have few regrets from high school, much appreciation for their teachers, thoughtful reflections on their experiences, and they’re sure to impact the world for good in their future endeavors.

Dupree, son of Corey and Carey Dupree, was on the cross country, soccer, and track teams, sang with the chorus, spent two years on student council, and was involved with NASA HUNCH. While he enjoyed all of these, he would tell his younger self to make fewer commitments so that he’d have more time for himself and his friends.

Ballard, daughter of Brandon and Tammy Ballard, ran cross country and played soccer and volleyball. She was happy with those three commitments.

Biddle, daughter of Darren and Karen Biddle, played in the concert band and was on the volleyball, tennis, and motorsports teams. If she could go back, her only changes would be bypassing volleyball but starting tennis earlier.

Guffey, daughter of Kecia Guffey, played volleyball and was on the track and field team (“the field part,” she clarified). She was happy with her chosen activities.

When asked who their favorite high school teachers were, the four listed name after name of DCHS staff members who influenced them throughout the last four years.

Dupree listed Philip Bell, Doug Bailor, Cyndy Bowden, Stan Gibby, and Gabrielle Haston, noting that his favorite class was chorus because “I just really enjoy singing, and the people.”

Ballard also listed Bell, Bailor, and Bowden. She added Patrice Whitt, Tammy Stevens “Coach T,” and Carrie Morris (Coach Morris, whom Ballard had as a coach but not a teacher). Her favorite class was digital media, saying, “I liked some of the projects we did, and I enjoyed learning new stuff about editing and putting videos. I had good friends in there.” Ballard also enjoyed chemistry with Bailor.

Likewise, Biddle listed Bowden, Bailor, Bell, Coach T, and added Ashley Parker, Allison Vice, and Amanda Clark. Her classmates joked, “Jordan’s going to name the whole staff,” and Biddle laughed, “I’m the faculty representative, can you tell?” Dual enrollment English with Bowden was her favorite class.

By the time it was Guffey’s turn, the four had all agreed, “We pretty much all like everyone the others mentioned. Even if we didn’t mention them, we still like them.” Guffey repeated Bailor, Clark, Whitt, Coach T, and Bowden, and added Autumn Sigler, Tammy Daugherty, and Matt Sweat. Her favorite class was AP Language with Sweat because “he was really funny and honest; that was the best part.”

Biddle pitched in, “You know who we forgot? Miss Gatlin.” The other three echoed their appreciation of Tonya Gatlin, with Dupree saying, “Miss Gatlin’s awesome.”

The students’ favorite memories were largely from competitions and trips. They fondly remember moments of success but also time with friends.

Dupree enjoyed this spring’s chorus trip to New York City and Carnegie Hall, as well as going to state with the cross country team. From soccer, he remembered the game against Pepperell that ended with penalty kicks. “We beat them—barely– and dogpiled at the end.” Biddle added, “That was pretty much everyone’s favorite memory last year, the dogpile.”

Dupree also enjoyed singing “I’m Just Ken” in the talent show, to which Biddle exclaimed, “That was peak Jack Dupree right there!”

Ballard said, “I have a lot of sports-related memories with soccer and volleyball—going to state and the trips we took together before the season.” She also had a blast at prom last year.

Biddle recalled being on the homecoming court her freshman year. “It definitely felt good to be voted for something. I liked seeing my friends’ reactions when I walked out in my dress because they’d never seen me dressed up before.”

Accomplishments on the tennis court also stand out in her memory. “My first year playing, I was second seed and got the all region tennis award which was very big for me because I wasn’t that athletic in volleyball. This year, I was first seed and I had two really good matches. I had two two-hour long matches and a tie-break in one. Those were big moments for me.”

Guffey fondly remembers kayaking with the volleyball team and Coach Morris her freshman year and laughing at funny moments on the slippery rocks. She added, “Going to Thomasville my sophomore year was pretty fun because of Coach T.” As the other girls laughed, she explained that this memory is an inside joke with the team.

Looking to the future, Dupree will be attending Covenant College to major in music and pursue a career related to anything with music. His classmates joked about him becoming a rapper, and he joked, “Yeah, hear me on the radio.” A dream for him would be to perform at Carnegie Hall again.

Ballard will be pursuing a degree in elementary education at Shorter University to become an elementary school teacher. As for dreams, she said, “I want to be an author and get a book, probably fiction, published at some point. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, and I still plan on it.”

Biddle will be attending Georgia Northwestern Technical College to become a cardiac ultrasound technologist. She said, “I will probably want to go back to school so I can move up in a hospital and do different types of ultrasounds, maybe the brain one day.”

As for a dream job, she said, “Going all out there, I want to be a veterinarian at zoos. That would require a lot of traveling far away from my family, so it’s not realistic—yet; we’ll see.”

Guffey will be attending Chattanooga State Community College, completing her academic courses this coming year and applying for the pediatric physical therapist assistant program in 2025. Originally, she hoped to become an occupational therapist assistant, but she didn’t find a program for that nearby. “I observed a physical therapist assistant at Dade Elementary school last year and thought it would be enjoyable too,” she said.

Guffey’s dream is to learn sign language. “For the longest time, I’ve wanted to be a sign language translator. I still plan on learning sign language at some point.”

All four said they’d be happy if life leads them back to Dade County, and none of them want to live in a city. Dupree laughed, “One thing I learned from New York—no cities.”

Ballard would consider coming back to teach in a Dade County school and said, “City’s are so crowded. You need some woods or something.”

Biddle added, “I can hardly drive through Trenton, so we’re staying here for a while. I like my land and my animals,” and Guffey said, “I’d probably work in Chattanooga, but I would never live in Chattanooga. I like it being small.”

Even when the four reflected on the stress and busyness of high school as well as social and academic pressure, it was clear that they enjoyed their high school years. When asked what they would tell their younger selves, each offered words of wisdom that they gained through experience.

Dupree said, “I would tell my younger self, ‘Don’t feel like you have to do everything. Just slow down, enjoy it.’”

Ballard said, “I would say, ‘Don’t be so concerned about what other people will think if you do such and such. Just relax, and do what you need to do, and don’t worry about whether other people are going to go along with you or not.”

Biddle said, “I would say to stay competitive but not cocky, and always be humble and kind.”

Guffey said, “I would say do more things for myself and not worry about school all the time, because I feel like I worry about school 24/7. That kinda ruins the mood for everything else.”

Ballard concluded, “It’s been a pretty good four years. There’ve been some rough spots, but it’s been pretty good. I’m excited to move on, but not just thrilled to get away. It’s kind of a medium: happy to go, sad to leave, ready to move on.”

The others agreed, with Guffey saying, “It feels like I’ve done all that I can here,” and Biddle saying, “I feel accomplished.”