Sulphur Springs teen named valedictorian of online school

Sulphur Springs teen named valedictorian of online school Image

• Sterling McDowell, daughter of Lori and William Howard McDowell, delivers her valedictory address to her fellow 959 graduates of Texas Connections Academy at Houston. She graduated Saturday, June 8, and plans to attend Georgetown University this fall. Courtesy photos
• Sterling McDowell shows off her diploma the award she received during graduation from Texas Connections Academy of Houston ISD

Tammy Vinson Wed, 06/19/2024 - 05:55 Subhead Education | Academics Body

Sterling McDowell, the daughter of Lori and William Howard McDowell of Sulphur Springs, graduated earlier this month as valedictorian of her class from Texas Connections Academy of Houston ISD.

McDowell initially attended Central Christian Academy, a private Christian school at Central Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs. CCA didn’t offer classes for middle schoolers at that time, so she switched to online school upon completing elementary courses.

“I switched to online school so I could have more opportunities for Advanced Placement, honors and dual credit classes, “ Mc-Dowell said. “I [was able to] do dual credit [classes] online through many colleges within Houston ISD. It offered me incredible flexibility. I got to control my schedule, my classes, my start and end times, and which classes I wanted to work on that day. I was fully in charge of my schedule myself, which I felt really prepared me for college.”

In addition to taking a full load of high-level classes, McDowell also volunteers with the Sulphur Springs Meal A Day program, delivering meals to senior citizens.

“Every Wednesday morning, I volunteer at the Senior Citizens Center for Meal a Day, a non-profit organization that cooks, packages, and delivers hot meals to homebound seniors in our rural town.

Without this program, many people would go hungry because of the lack of food and transportation accessibility in our community. Giving back to the seniors in my community is the highlight of my week. Delivering their meal, visiting with them, as well as helping them with a few tasks is something I love,” she said.

McDowell will attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., this fall and plans to study public policy. She hopes to work on Capitol Hill as a congressional aide, and, eventually, plans to run for office. She’s particularly passionate about environmental issues, especially “combatting the climate crisis and setting up for generations of the future, protection of individuals’ rights and increasing voter registration numbers, especially among the Gen-Z population.” Eventually, she hopes to be elected to U.S. Congress.

McDowell is also a communications director for the Texas chapter of Voters of Tomorrow. The organization, she says, “keeps Gen-Z up to date on the news, but in a way they’re used to digesting. It’s all social media — TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook — where we can see what’s happening, but it’s curated to where we would understand it. I run their social media platforms.”

McDowell was previously manager of the Hopkins County Democratic Party Instagram account until she was approached by Voters of Tomorrow.

One of her main hobbies is dance. She has taken dance lessons at Sulphur Springs Centre for Dance since age 2, and is a member of their competition team and an instructor.

“When I am not studying, I teach daily dance and acro classes at Sulphur Springs Centre for Dance to students ages two to 13. I also train daily in jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, and contortion acrobatics with my competitive dance team,” Sterling said.

The Texas Connections Academy of Houston ISD valedictorian said she definitely plans to continue dancing in college and in fact plans to audition for the Georgetown Dance Company.

During her class’ commencement ceremony, McDowell received a Houston ISD School Board Award for Student Excellence for Excellence in Character, Scholarship, Leadership and Service.